Nowhere Kids
by lghngslly09
Summary: Dark and dangerous times have fallen on Liza Jones and the wizarding community. You-Know-Who has returned, but the Ministry refuses to believe Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. Liza must ban together with her friends to make it through her fifth year of school. Sequel to Awake and Alive.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Welcome to my new story and the fifth story of my Harry Potter series! If you haven't read any of the other stories in this series, I suggest that you do so before reading this one, as I'm writing this one assuming you've read the previous ones (and also the Harry Potter series). The first story is called Welcome to the World, in case you want to go read it.**_

_**This first chapter is fairly short because it was supposed to be included with the next TWO chapters. I was writing and realized that the first chapter was going to be very long, so I split it up into three chapters. Anyways, enjoy.**_

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

**Chapter 1 – Welcome to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place**

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope your summer has been all right so far. Ours has been very…repetitive. We're still here at Sirius's old family house. We've made some progress on decontaminating the house. That's all we do these days is clean. It's hard to get a lot done when we can't use magic._

_The twins can do magic now, do I mention that? They like to Apparate from their room upstairs down to the kitchen in the basement. Mrs. Weasley gets so angry with them because they startle her every time. They invented these things called the Extendable Ears that help us to listen in to the private meetings. We're not allowed to go to them, you see, since we're still in school. Even the twins aren't, even though they're of age. Anyways, Mrs. Weasley found out about the Ears, so she confiscated them, but Fred managed to hide a few. We're really careful about using them now._

_Did I tell you about Percy? The first week after term ended and before we came here, Percy and Mr. Weasley had this huge fight at the Burrow. Percy said there's no proof You-Know-Who is back and we are stupid to believe you. He's basically sided with the Ministry. So whatever you do, don't mention Percy around the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley in particular gets upset, and who could blame her?_

_Anyways. You'd be disappointed in our sleuthing. We really haven't found all that much out. You-Know-Who has been trying to keep a low profile, just like Dumbledore said he would. The Order has all these meetings, like I said before, but it's hard to overhear anything._

_As for the Order, we've met quite a few of them now. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are in it, and so is Sirius, obviously. We hardly ever see Dumbledore. Ron's brother Bill took a desk job so he could move home to be a part of the Order, too. Lupin is in it as well, along with Hagrid and McGonagall and Flitwick and even Snape. Moody is here, as well. He's still as paranoid as ever, and it's so weird to talk to him because we spent nearly a year thinking we knew who he was when he turned out to be stuck in his truck all year. Barty Crouch Jr. really played his part well…_

_Well, I'm not sure what else to tell you. Nothing new has been happening since the last time I wrote to you. Sirius is still stuck in the house with us. I don't think he minds our company, but Dumbledore keeps telling him that it's too dangerous for him to leave the house._

_Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to send this letter. I mean, I could always save it and give it to you once we see you… Mrs. Weasley keeps saying that you'll be coming here soon, but she's been saying it all summer and I'm not sure if I should even believe her._

_Dumbledore doesn't want us to be telling you anything about the Order and what's going on here. At first I thought it was just because he didn't want to risk the letters being intercepted, but he really doesn't want us to tell you _anything_. It has been super hard to not just write a letter to you saying everything and stealing Pig to send you it. And I have no idea why he doesn't want you knowing anything._

_Like I said, I could possibly give this to you when I see you next, but I don't think the Order would be very happy with me if they found this letter before I could give it to you. So I think I'll just throw it into the fire… Just like the last 50-some letters I've written and not sent._

_And if that's the case then, I also want you to know that I love you and I'm your secret twin sister. I just wish you were here right now._

_Liza_

Elizabeth "Liza" Jones looked sadly down at her letter to one of her best friends and her twin brother, Harry Potter, whom she missed very much. She hadn't seen him since the end of their last school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

When Liza and Harry had been born, their parents Lily and James Potter had been in hiding from You-Know-Who. Lily, knowing that You-Know-Who knew that she had given birth, had asked Professor Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, to hide her daughter from the evil wizard. So Liza had been taken away from her family and adopted by a witch and wizard couple in the United States, Dan and Sue Jones. They didn't tell her anything about her birth parents, to keep her safe.

When Liza turned eleven, she had received a letter from Hogwarts. Since she had been born in England, her name had been put down for Hogwarts even though she lived most of her life in America. After a few years of going to school at Hogwarts, she found out that she was a Potter.

About a month earlier, You-Know-Who, whom Harry had defeated as a baby, had returned to full strength. The Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge refused to believe Harry, who had seen You-Know-Who come back, and now the entire Ministry of Magic was in denial. The _Daily Prophet_ had been doing their very best to smear both Harry's and Dumbledore's names.

Liza had gone with her other best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and the rest of the Weasley family to a house in London called Grimmauld Place. It was the childhood home of Liza and Harry's godfather Sirius Black. For the entire summer, Liza and the others had been decontaminating the house so it could serve as headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society that Dumbledore had organized to combat You-Know-Who.

As much as Liza enjoyed helping out the Order, she couldn't help the feeling of boredom that had settled inside her. They never left the house. Every morning they would wake up; Mrs. Weasley would make them breakfast; they would help to clean a room in the house, which would usually take a few days to complete; the Order usually had a meeting in the evening; then Mrs. Weasley would make supper, and they would go to bed.

Liza was also enjoying spending time with Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys. She just wished that Harry would be able to join them soon. After everything that Harry had gone through a month earlier when You-Know-Who had returned, Liza thought that he should be there with them.

Picking up the parchment in front of her, Liza crumpled the letter into a ball and tossed it into the fire.

**~LJ:NK~**

It seemed like a very ordinary day in Grimmauld Place. The Weasleys, Hermione, and Liza had been cleaning out the last bedroom all day, and it still wasn't fully ready for someone to sleep in. Now they were gathered in the kitchen for dinner, enjoying some stew that Mrs. Weasley had made when Albus Dumbledore came walking swiftly into the kitchen.

"Hello, Professor," Mrs. Weasley said, sounding very surprised to see him. "Would you like something to eat?"

"No, thank you, Molly," Dumbledore replied politely. Liza looked up and was startled to see him looking more angry than she had ever seen him. "I just wanted to know if Arthur is still at work."

"Yes, I believe he is," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Thank you, Molly," Dumbledore said. "I'll have Arthur send word once I get to the Ministry." He turned on his heel and left the kitchen again, with the Weasleys, Hermione, and Liza staring after him.

"What's for dinner?" Sirius asked, entering the kitchen.

"Stew," Mrs. Weasley replied. "Did you see Dumbledore on your way down here?"

"Yes," Sirius said, taking a seat at the table. "He looked like he was in a hurry, so I didn't bother him. Why, did something happen?"

"He didn't say," Mrs. Weasley answered. "He asked if Arthur was still at work, and then he said he was off to the Ministry."

"The Ministry?" Sirius repeated, frowning. "I wonder why he would want to go there, of all places."

A few minutes later, they got their answer. An owl swooped into the room and landed on the table in front of Mrs. Weasley. She took the letter from the owl, and it flew away. Mrs. Weasley unfolded the letter and scanned it, her eyes growing wide.

"Oh my," she said faintly. She cleared her throat and announced, "It seems that a couple of dementors attacked Harry and his cousin in Little Whinging."

"What?" Sirius burst out, standing up from the table and holding his hand out to see the letter.

"Two dementors attacked Harry and his Muggle cousin," Mrs. Weasley continued, handing the letter over. "Harry used a Patronus Charm to scare them off, but now he may possibly be expelled from Hogwarts for using magic in front of a Muggle."

"I'm going to write to Harry," Sirius said.

"Sirius—," Mrs. Weasley started.

"I know, I know," Sirius interrupted. "I'm not going to tell him anything, I'm just going to tell him to stay at his aunt and uncle's house." He turned and dashed out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley hurried after him, possibly to write her own notes.

"I hope Harry's all right," Hermione said, looking anxious. "He really needs to be more careful."

"More careful?" Ron echoed. "Two dementors went after him! Did you expect him to just let them suck his soul out?"

"He really is a magnet for trouble, isn't he?" Ginny remarked.

"How could they expel him for protecting himself?" Liza asked. "I mean, I know we're not supposed to use magic outside of school, but if there were dementors involved…"

"I'm sure the Ministry is going to deny that there were dementors attacking him," George said matter-of-factly. "Dementors are under Ministry control, or at least the Ministry believes that they are."

"But why else would Harry us a Patronus Charm?" Liza pointed out. She exchanged blank looks with the other Weasleys and Hermione before going back to eating her stew in silence.

It was a few hours before Mrs. Weasley found the kids sitting in the bedroom Fred and George were staying in. Fred, George, Ginny, and Ron were all playing Exploding Snap while Liza watched, her cat Boots lounging on her lap. Hermione was reading one of her textbooks nearby.

"Well, the good news is that Harry hasn't been expelled yet," she began, looking relieved. "Dumbledore has managed to convince the Ministry to hold a hearing for Harry to determine whether he should be expelled or not. A group from the Order will be going to collect Harry from his aunt's and uncle's house in a few days, but Dumbledore has asked me to remind you that you are not to send Harry any owls about what is going on. We don't want anything to get intercepted."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Liza said, smiling at the woman.

"Don't stay up too late," Mrs. Weasley added. "We have to finish decontaminating that bedroom in the next few days. Oh, Liza, Hermione, Ron—Sirius wants to talk to you."

"Where is he?" Liza asked, nudging Boots off of her and standing up.

"He's up in Buckbeak's room," Mrs. Weasley replied. She left the room, and Liza looked at Hermione and Ron.

"Shall we?" she asked. Hermione saved her place in her book, and she and Ron followed Liza up a flight of stairs. They reached the room where Buckbeak was staying and knocked.

"Come in," Sirius called from inside. Liza pushed the door open and the three filed into the room. They stopped short when they saw Hedwig flapping around Sirius's head.

"What is she doing?" Ron asked. Hedwig squawked and flew at the other three, brandishing her leg. There were three bits of parchment attached to it, and Hermione untied them and handed one to Ron and Liza. Liza opened hers up and read the short note Harry had written.

_I've just been attacked by dementors and I might be expelled from Hogwarts. I want to know what's going on and when I'm going to get out of here._

"What does yours say?" Ron asked, looking over Liza's shoulder. He scanned the parchment in her hands and said, "Mine says the same thing."

"I assume yours all say that Harry wants to know what's happening," Sirius sighed, leaning against an old dresser that was pushed up against the wall.

"I know that Dumbledore and the others say that we're not supposed to send letters in case they get intercepted," Liza started, "but why can't we let Harry know what's happening? It seems very unfair that he doesn't get any information about what's going on."

"Not to mention the fact that if he were here already, none of this would have happened," Ron added.

"I don't know why Dumbledore doesn't want Harry knowing anything," Sirius admitted. "But he has his reasons; he always does. If we can't trust Dumbledore, who can we trust?" He sounded a little bit bitter, however. "It's getting late. You should probably get some sleep." Hermione and Ron said goodnight to Sirius and left the room, but Liza stayed behind.

"How are you, Sirius?" she asked in a quiet voice. Sirius sighed.

"I'm fine," he said. "I just feel like a burden to the Order right now. I wish I could do something to help, but Dumbledore insists that I stay hidden. When I was on the run, at least I was outside in the fresh air. I never thought I'd have to come back into this house." He let out another breath through his nose before asking, "How are _you_?"

"I'm okay," Liza said. "Feeling a little trapped as well, but I at least have Hogwarts to look forward to." Sirius smirked.

"How's that boyfriend of yours?" he teased. Liza felt herself blush.

Her boyfriend was John McDevlyn, a Slytherin the same age as she was—he'd be starting his fifth year on September first just like she would—whom she'd started dating the year before. However, John's father was a Death Eater, a follower of You-Know-Who. John didn't believe in anything the Death Eaters did, and he was essentially on the Order's side of things. Unfortunately, since he was living with a Death Eater, Liza had to be very careful about what she put in a letter to him. In fact, she had to be so careful that she hadn't sent him many letters at all.

"He's fine, as far as I can tell," she said. "He can't write much in his letters, but it sounds like he's having a normal summer." Sirius chuckled.

"Sorry," he said. "I can't help it, I had to tease you about it, for your old man's sake." He stood up straight and walked over to the door. "I think I'm going to turn in," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Sirius," Liza said, and she went down two flights of stairs to the bedroom she was sharing with Ginny and Hermione.

**~LJ:NK~**

Another few days went by before they heard anything about Harry again. They were having breakfast when Mrs. Weasley announced the news.

"A group from the Order will be picking Harry up tonight," she stated

"Good," Ron said. "Maybe he'll be able to get Hedwig to stop trying to eat our hands." Ever since Hedwig had arrived, she had been following Ron, Hermione, and Liza around and pecking at their fingers. None of them could get her to stop doing it.

"When will he get here?" Liza asked eagerly.

"I think they're waiting to get him until the evening, so sometime tonight," Mrs. Weasley answered. "However, you know what Dumbledore has said; you are not to tell Harry more than he needs to know. The Order is also having a meeting tonight, so you'll have to entertain yourselves for the night."

"We do that every night, Mum," Fred pointed out. "Don't worry about us."

**~LJ:NK~**

That evening, the kids were hustled away from the kitchen, which was where the meeting would be held. Ron, Hermione, and Liza went up to Ron's room to wait for Harry. Ron pulled out his deck of Exploding Snap.

"I wonder how they're going to get him here," Hermione said as Ron dealt the cards.

"No idea," Liza said. "I'm more worried about how angry he's going to be."

"Why would he be angry?" Ron asked.

"Wouldn't you be?" Liza shot back. "He had to watch as You-Know-Who came back to life." She held up her hand and started to count on her fingers. "He had to watch Cedric die. We all promised that he would join us here as soon as we could get him here, but it's been over a month. He got attacked by dementors and might be expelled from school…"

"I guess you're right," Ron said.

"Not to mention the fact that we haven't been able to give him answers to any of the questions he's sent us," Hermione added.

"But Dumbledore made us swear to not tell him anything," Ron said. "Harry will understand that, won't he? That we didn't have a choice?"

"Maybe," Liza said. "But maybe not." They played a game of Exploding Snap in silence. Ron won the first game, and he scooped up the cards to deal out another game.

"I wonder if Fred and George are trying to listen in to the meeting downstairs," he said as he dealt another round.

"I'm sure they're going to try," Liza said, picking up her cards to see what she had. They got about halfway through the game when the door to the bedroom opened up, startling the three of them. They all turned to see Harry Potter standing in the doorway.

**~LJ:NK~**

_**A/N: It was short and not one of my best chapters, but hey, it's a start.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

**Chapter 2 – Getting Harry Caught Up to Speed**

"HARRY!" Hermione shrieked, jumping up and launching herself at Harry. "Ron, Liza, he's here, Harry's here!"

"We can see that," Liza said, standing up and walking over to her friends. Hermione let go of Harry so Liza could hug him as well. "We didn't hear you arrive," she added to him. She stepped back and studied him closely. He looked the same as ever: scrawny, with messy black hair and the same green eyes as Liza and their mother Lily.

"Oh, how _are_ you?" Hermione asked. "Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless—but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got to tell us—the dementors! When we heard—and that Ministry hearing—it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations…"

"Let him breathe, Hermione," Ron said, cutting her off. He grinned at Harry and closed the bedroom door behind them. Hedwig flew over from across the room and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed, stroking her a few times.

"She's been in a right state," Ron said. "Pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this…" He held his hand out for Harry to see the scratches.

"Oh yeah," Harry said. "Sorry about that, but I wanted answers, you know…"

"We wanted to give them to you," Liza said sadly.

"Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news," Ron added, "but Dumbledore made us…"

"Swear not to tell me," Harry finished for him. "Yeah, Hermione's already said." There was a heavy pause as Harry stroked his owl and didn't look at the other three.

"He seemed to think it was best," Hermione said after a few seconds. "Dumbledore, I mean."

"Right," Harry said.

"I think he thought you were safest with the Muggles," Ron said.

"Yeah?" Harry asked, his voice strained. "Have any of you been attacked by dementors this summer?"

"No, but we haven't left this house all summer," Liza said. "But that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time."

"Didn't work that well, though, did it?" Harry asked. "Had to look after myself after all, didn't I?"

"He was so angry," Hermione whispered. She cleared her throat and continued in a louder voice, "Dumbledore. We saw him. When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary."

"Well, I'm glad he left," Harry said. "If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer."

"You don't know that," Liza said, frowning.

"Aren't you…aren't you worried about the Ministry of Magic hearing?" Hermione asked.

"No," Harry stated boldly. He took a few steps away from them, looking around the room. "So why'd Dumbledore been so keen to keep me in the dark?" he asked. "Did you—er—bother to ask him at all?"

"No, Harry, we never asked why he didn't want us writing to you," Liza said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on," Ron said. "We did, mate. But he's really busy now, we've only seen him twice since we came here and he didn't have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted…"

"He could still've kept me informed if he'd wanted to," Harry said stubbornly. "You're not telling me he doesn't know ways to send messages without owls."

"I thought that too," Hermione said. "But he didn't want you to know _anything_."

"Maybe he thinks I can't be trusted," Harry said.

"Don't be thick," Ron said.

"Or that I can't take care of myself," Harry suggested.

"Harry, why would he think that?" Liza asked exasperatedly. "If he thought that he wouldn't have let you compete in the Triwizard Tournament last year."

"So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys' while you three get to join in everything that's going on here?" Harry asked, sounding upset. "How come you three are allowed to know everything that's going on?"

"We're not!" Ron insisted. "Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young…"

"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL!" Harry shouted, surprising them. "YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER? ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU THREE'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT—WHO SAVED THE SORCERER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?"

"That's not fair, Harry," Liza said quietly, fixing him with a hard stare, but Harry continued like she hadn't said anything.

"WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR?" he yelled. "WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!" Liza glanced at Ron, who looked speechless, and Hermione, who seemed like she was about to cry. Harry, however, continued, "BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?"

"Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did," Hermione cut in.

"CAN'T HAVE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU," Harry snapped, "OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT _DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR_…"

"Well, he did," Ron grumbled.

"FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE," Harry bellowed, "NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON…"

"We wanted to," Hermione tried again.

"I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER…" Harry raved.

"No, honest," Hermione said.

"ENOUGH!" Liza screamed. Harry rounded on her, but she was too angry with him to care. "What's the matter with you? We _wanted_ to tell you, how many times do we have to tell you that until you understand?"

"YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED!" Harry shouted.

"STOP YELLING AT US!" Liza cried. "Just stop it! We're not the ones you're mad at; I know it, and you know it. We're sorry that things happened this way, and we're sorry that we couldn't have sent you more information. But stop taking your frustrations out on _us_! What do you want us to do, go back in time and send you some owls full of critical information that could seriously hurt the Order if they were intercepted by Death Eaters?" Harry scowled before dropping his eyes to the floor and pacing back and forth.

"What _is_ this place anyway?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix," Ron answered promptly.

"Is anyone going to bother telling me what the Order of the Phoenix is?" Harry asked in an annoyed voice.

"Harry," Liza said sharply, warning in her tone.

"It's a secret society," Hermione explained. "Dumbledore's in charge, he founded it. It's the people who fought against You-Know-Who last time."

"Who's in it?" Harry asked in a calmer tone.

"Quite a few people," Hermione said.

"We've met about twenty of them," Ron added, "but we think there are more…" There was a pause.

"_Well_?" Harry snarled.

"Well what, Harry?" Liza asked, shaking her head.

"_Voldemort_!" Harry burst out. "What's happening? What's he up to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?"

"We've _told_ you, the Order don't let us in on their meetings," Liza pointed out. "So we don't know any details."

"But we've got a general idea," Hermione added quickly, noticing the furious look on Harry's face.

"Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, see," Ron said. "They're really useful."

"Extendable—?" Harry started.

"Ears, yeah," Ron finished. "Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and George had to hide them all to stop Mum binning them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realized what was going on. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know…"

"Some of them are working on recruiting more people to the order," Hermione added.

"And some of them are standing guard over something," Ron finished. "They're always talking about guard duty."

"Couldn't have been me, could it?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah," Ron said.

"Excuse you, but this isn't all about you, Harry," Liza said. "They could be guarding something else, too." Harry looked away from them and then walked around the room again.

"So what have you two been doing, if you're not allowed in meetings?" he asked. "You said you'd been busy."

"We have," Hermione said, nodding. "We've been decontaminating this house, it's been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms, and I think we're doing to drawing room tomorrow—AARGH!" she squealed as Fred and George appeared in the room with two loud bangs.

"You two need to stop doing that," Liza scolded them. They winked at her.

"Hello, Harry," George said brightly. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."

"You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out," Fred said, grinning. "There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you." Liza snorted.

"You two passed your Apparition tests, then?" Harry asked.

"With distinction," Fred replied. He was holding the end of a flesh-colored string; an Extendable Ear.

"It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer to walk down the stairs," Ron pointed out.

"Time is Galleons, little brother," Fred insisted. "Anyway, Harry, you're interfering with reception. Extendable Ears," he explained when Harry looked at the Extendable Ear with uncertainty. "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs."

"You want to be careful," Ron warned them. "If Mum sees one of them again…"

"It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having," Fred stated. The door opened again, and Ginny came into the room.

"Oh hello, Harry!" she said cheerfully. "I thought I heard your voice." Once very embarrassed and clumsy around Harry, Ginny had finally learned to act calmly around him. She turned to Fred and George and added, "It's no go with the Extendable Ears, she's gone and put an Imperturbable Curse on the kitchen door."

"How d'you know?" George asked.

"Tonks told me how to find out," Ginny explained. "You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the doors been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap."

"Shame," Fred sighed. "I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."

"Snape?" Harry piped up. "Is he here?"

"Yeah," George said. He went to the door, shut it firmly, and took a seat on one of the beds. Fred and Ginny did the same. "Giving a report," George said. "Top secret."

"Git," Fred remarked.

"He's on our side now," Hermione said.

"Doesn't stop him being a git," Ron said. "The way he looks at us when he sees us…"

"Bill doesn't like him either," Ginny added. Harry now sat on the bed opposite the one George, Fred, and Ginny were sitting on.

"Is Bill here?" he asked. "I thought he was working in Egypt."

"He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order," Fred replied. "He says he misses the tombs, but there are compensations…" He exchanged a smirk with George, and Liza rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the dresser.

"What d'you mean?" Harry asked.

"Remember old Fleur Delacour?" George said. "She's got a job at Gringotts to _eemprove 'er Eeenglish_…"

"And Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons," Fred chuckled.

"Oh, leave him alone," Liza said, shaking her head.

"Charlie's in the Order, too," George continued, looking at Harry, "but he's still in Romania. Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."

"Couldn't Percy do that?" Harry asked. Liza frowned deeply, scowling along with the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione.

"Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad," Ron advised Harry.

"Why not?" Harry asked, looking bewildered.

"Because every time Percy's name's mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying," Fred replied.

"It's been awful," Ginny added.

"I think we're well shut of him," George said, looking furious.

"What happened?" Harry insisted.

"Percy and Dad had a row," Fred began. "I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts…"

"It was the first week back after term ended," Ron continued. "We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted."

"You're kidding?" Harry said.

"Yeah, we were all surprised," George said, "because Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought to have realized Crouch was off his rocker and informed a superior. But you know Percy, Crouch left him in charge, he wasn't going to complain…"

"So how come they promoted him?" Harry asked.

"That's exactly what we wondered," Liza spoke up.

"He came home really pleased with himself," Ron said, "Even more pleased than usual if you can imagine that—and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts—Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think."

"Only Dad wasn't," Fred said.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"Well, apparently Fudge has been storming round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore," George explained.

"Dumbledore's name's mud with the Ministry these days, see," Fred continued. "They all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back."

"Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks," George added.

"Trouble is," Fred said, shaking his head, "Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always though Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession…"

"But what's this got to do with Percy?" Harry asked.

"I'm coming to that," Fred said. "Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family—and Dumbledore."

"But Percy loved that," Harry said.

"He went completely berserk," Ron said, laughing without humor. "He said—well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been—you know—not had a lot of money, I mean…"

"_What_?" Harry said, looking appalled. Ginny hissed, looking upset as well.

"I know," Ron continued. "And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he—Percy—knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family anymore. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now." Harry let out a very low expletive.

"Mum's been in a right state," Ron said. "You know—crying and stuff. She came up to London to try and talk to Percy but he slammed the door in her face. I dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work—ignores him, I s'pose."

"But Percy _must_ know Voldemort's back," Harry said, looking around at the Weasleys. "He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof…"

"Yeah, well, your name got dragged into the fight," Liza said, shaking her head. "Percy said the only evidence was your word and apparently he doesn't think it was good enough."

"Percy takes the _Daily Prophet_ seriously," Hermione added coldly.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, looking at each of the Weasleys, Hermione, and Liza.

"Haven't—haven't you been getting the _Daily Prophet_?" Hermione asked warily.

"Yeah, I have!" Harry exclaimed.

"Have you—er—been reading it thoroughly?" Hermione asked.

"Not cover to cover," Harry said. "If they were going to report anything about Voldemort it would be headline news, wouldn't it!"

"Oh, Harry," Liza said. "You know the Ministry is denying You-Know-Who's return. There hasn't been anything about him in the _Prophet_, but they—er—they mention you a few times a week."

"But I'd have seen," Harry insisted, but Hermione cut him off with a shake of her head.

"Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't," Hermione replied. "We're not talking about the big articles. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke."

"What d'you—?" Harry began.

"It's quite nasty, actually," Hermione continued over Harry. "They're just building on Rita's stuff."

"But she's not writing for them anymore, is she?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, she's kept her promise—not that she's got any choice," Hermione answered, sounding a bit triumphant. "But she laid the foundation for what they're trying to do now."

"Which is _what_?" Harry asked.

"Okay, you know she wrote that you were collapsing all over the place and saying your scar was hurting and all that?" Hermione began.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

"Well, they're writing about you as though you're this deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something," Hermione explained. "They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears they say something like 'a tale worthy of Harry Potter' and if anyone has a funny accident or anything it's 'let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next…'"

"I don't want anyone to worship…" Harry stated hotly.

"We know you don't," Liza said impatiently. "We _know_, Harry. But you see what they're doing? They want to turn you into someone nobody will believe. Fudge is behind it, I'll bet anything. They want wizards on the street to think you're just some stupid boy who's a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going."

"I didn't ask—I didn't want—_Voldemort kill my parents_!" Harry stuttered. "I got famous because he murdered my family but couldn't kill me! Who wants to be famous for that? Don't they think I'd rather it'd never…"

"We _know_, Harry," Ginny chimed in.

"And of course, they didn't report a word about the dementors attacking you," Hermione continued. "Someone's told them to keep that quiet. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control dementors. They haven't even reported that you broke the International Statute of Secrecy—we thought they would, it would tie in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off—we think they're biding their time until you're expelled, then they're really going to go to town—I mean, _if_ you're expelled, obviously," Hermione added quickly, "you really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you."

There was a moment of silence which was broken by the noise of footsteps on the stairs.

"Uh-oh," Fred muttered, tugging on his Extendable Ear. He and George Disapparated. Moments later, Mrs. Weasley appeared at the bedroom door.

"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now," she said. "Everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"

"Crookshanks," Ginny said without missing a beat. "He loves playing with them."

"Oh," Mrs. Weasley said. "I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please…" Mrs. Weasley turned to leave and Ginny made a quick face at her mother's back before following her out of the room.

Harry looked at Hermione, Ron, and Liza, who were watching him anxiously.

"Look," Harry began, but Hermione cut him off.

"We knew you'd be angry, Harry," she said, "we really don't blame you, but you've got to understand, we _did_ try and persuade Dumbledore…"

"Yeah, I know," Harry said, although he still sounded annoyed.

"Do you?" Liza asked quietly. "Are you going to quit being upset with us when you should really be annoyed with Dumbledore?" Harry nodded but didn't say anything more about it.

"Who's Kreacher?" he asked, changing the subject.

"The house-elf who lives here," Ron answered. "Nutter. Never met one like him."

"He's not a _nutter_, Ron," Hermione argued.

"His life's ambition is to have his head cut off and stuck up on a plaque just like his mother's," Ron said. "Is that normal, Hermione?"

"Well—well if he's a bit strange, it's not his fault," Hermione insisted.

"Hermione still hasn't given up on _spew_," Ron said to Harry.

"It's not 'spew'!" Hermione snapped. "It's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and it's not just me, Dumbledore says we should be kind to Kreacher, too…"

"Yeah, yeah," Ron said dismissively. "C'mon, I'm starving." He led the way out of the room and onto the landing. They were about to go down the stairs when Ron held his arm out to stop the other three, hissing, "Hold it!" They all looked over the banister and could see a group of witches and wizards gathered in the hallway. Professor Snape, the potions master at Hogwarts, was standing in the middle of the crowd.

An Extendable Ear appeared in front of Liza's vision. She glanced up, noticing Fred and George huddled together on the landing above them. She gave them a small salute, which George returned.

Liza was glad that she and George were able to be close friends still. The year before, George had asked her to the Yule Ball. Liza had thought they were going as just friends, but George had had a crush on her. Her acceptance of his invitation had given him hope that maybe she liked him back, but she had a crush on John. When George saw her and John exchange a kiss at the Ball, he had been upset but had quickly accepted the fact that Liza didn't return his feelings. Now they were as close as ever, and Liza would be forever grateful for his friendship.

The twins had just lowered their Extendable Ear when the group below began to move towards the front door.

"Dammit," Fred whispered, reeling the Extendable Ear back up. The front door opened and then closed.

"Snape never eats here," Ron said to Harry. "Thank God. C'mon."

"And don't forget to keep your voice down in the hall, Harry," Hermione whispered. They walked down the stairs and entered the hallway, where they say Remus Lupin (a former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts and werewolf), Nymphadora Tonks (a younger Auror who went by Tonks), and Mrs. Weasley standing at the front door, magically sealing it behind the guests. Mrs. Weasley turned and hurried over to them.

"We're eating down in the kitchen," she said in a very quiet voice. "Harry, dear, if you'll just tiptoe across this hall, it's through this door here…"

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and Liza turned to see Tonks sprawled out on the floor.

"_Tonks_!" Mrs. Weasley wailed.

"I'm sorry!" Tonks cried. "It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over…" That's when the screeching began. Liza, Ron, and Hermione threw their hands over their ears, and Harry looked around in bewilderment.

In the middle of the hall was a life-sized portrait that was normally covered by a pair of moldy old curtains. But the noise had awakened the portrait's occupant: an old, unpleasant looking woman who was screaming at the top of her lungs. Her screaming also awoke the other portraits in the hall, causing them to yell and scream as well.

"_Filth! Scum!_" she bellowed. Lupin and Mrs. Weasley rushed forward to try and pull the curtains back over the portrait, but they wouldn't move. "_By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers!_"

Tonks was busy trying to put the umbrella stand back, all while apologizing profusely, although nobody could hear her. Mrs. Weasley stopped tugging on the curtains and began to Stun the other portraits to get them to stop making such a racket. Then Sirius came striding out of the door to the kitchen.

"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" he shouted, grabbing the curtain Mrs. Weasley had dropped.

"_Yoooou!_" the woman in the portrait screamed. "_Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!_"

"I said—shut—UP!" Sirius snarled, and he and Lupin were able to wrench the curtains closed again. Short of breath, Sirius swept the hair from his eyes and turned to look at Harry. "Hello, Harry," he greeted. "I see you've met my mother."

**~LJ:NK~**


	3. Chapter 3 Dinner With the Order

_**A/N: There's a lot of dialogue straight from the book in this one, so I hope it's not too boring!**_

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

**Chapter 3 – Dinner With the Order**

"You're—?" Harry asked, surprise.

"My dear old mum, yeah," Sirius said. "We've been trying to get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get downstairs, quick, before they all wake up again." He gestured to the door he had come out of.

"But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asked, following his godfather. Liza, Hermione, and Ron trailed after them.

"Hasn't anyone told you? This was my parents' house," Sirius explained. "But I'm the last Black left, so it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters—about the only useful thing I've been able to do." Liza could hear the bitterness in his voice.

They reached the kitchen and found Mr. Weasley and Bill bent over a parchment at the end of the table. They were talking low with their heads together. There were bits of parchment littering the table, along with goblets and bottles of wine.

Mrs. Weasley, following behind Ron, cleared her throat significantly. Mr. Weasley looked up, beaming when he saw Harry.

"Harry!" he exclaimed. He stepped forward and shook Harry's hand. "Good to see you!" Bill, meanwhile, hurried to collect all the papers on the table.

"Journey all right, Harry?" he asked. "Mad-Eye didn't make you come via Greenland, then?"

"He tried," Tonks remarked, going over to help Bill pick up the parchment. She knocked into the table and sent a candle into one of the pieces of parchment. "Oh, no," she moaned. "_Sorry_."

"Here, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. She took her wand out and repaired the parchment. Liza looked at the parchment, and in the brief moment the light from the spell hit it, she could make out what looked like building plans. Mrs. Weasley grabbed the parchment off the table and placed it in Bill's arms with the other ones.

"This sort of thing ought to be cleared away promptly at the end of meetings," she scolded. Then she began to set the table for dinner. Ginny helped her mother put the dishes out.

"_Evanesco_!" Bill said, pointing his wand at the parchment, and they vanished.

"Sit down, Harry," Sirius said, waving him into a chair. "You've met Mundungus, haven't you?" Mundungus, who had fallen asleep at the end of the table, started suddenly.

"Some'n say m' name?" he asked groggily. "I 'gree with Sirius…" Ginny and Liza sniggered.

"The meeting's over, Dung," Sirius told him. "Harry's arrived." Liza, Hermione, and Ron all sat down around the table as well.

"Eh?" Mundungus grunted. He turned his bloodshot eyes to Harry and said, "Bilmey, so 'e 'as. Yeah…you all right, 'arry?"

"Yeah," Harry said, sounding unsure. Mundungus pulled a pipe from his pocket, stuck it in his mouth, and lit it. A thick cloud poured out of the end of it, obscuring his face. "Owe you a 'pology," Mundungus added.

"For the last time, Mundungus," Mrs. Weasley said sternly, "will you please _not_ smoke that thing in the kitchen, especially not when we're about to eat!"

"Ah," Mundungus said. "Right. Sorry, Molly." He put the pipe back into his pocket, and the cloud around him vanished.

"And if you want dinner before midnight I'll need a hand," Mrs. Weasley continued, looking around the room. "No, you can stay where you are, Harry dear, you've had a long journey…"

"What can I do, Molly?" Tonks said, looking eager.

"Er—no, it's all right, Tonks," Mrs. Weasley said, "you have a rest too, you've done enough today…"

"No, no, I want to help!" Tonks insisted. She knocked over a chair on her way towards where the dishes were kept.

Mrs. Weasley set them all to work. Mr. Weasley supervised the knives that were magically cutting up meat and vegetables. Mrs. Weasley watched over a cauldron that hung over the fire. Liza helped the others to set the table with plates, goblets, and other food. Harry remained at the table with Mundungus and Sirius.

"Seen old Figgy since?" Mundungus asked Harry.

"No," Harry replied, "I haven't seen anyone."

"See, I wouldn't 'ave left," Mundungus said, "but I 'ad a business opportunity…"

"Had a good summer so far?" Sirius asked.

"No, it's been lousy," Harry answered bluntly.

"Don't know what you're complaining about, myself," Sirius said.

"_What_?" Harry said.

"Personally, I'd have welcomed a dementor attack," Sirius said. "A deadly struggle for my soul would have broken the monotony nicely. You think you've had it bad, at least you've been able to get out and about, stretch your legs, get into a few fights… I've been stuck inside for a month."

"How come?" Harry asked.

"Because the Ministry of Magic's still after me," Sirius replied, "and Voldemort will know all about me being an Animagus by now, Wormtail will have told him, so my big disguise is useless. There's not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix…or so Dumbledore feels."

"At least you've known what's been going on," Harry said.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said with a sarcastic bite to his tone. "Listening to Snape's reports, having to take all his snide hints that he's out there risking his life while I'm sat on my backside here having a nice comfortable time…asking me how the cleaning's going…"

"What cleaning?" Harry asked.

"Trying to make this place fit for human habitation," Sirius said. "No one's lived here for ten years, not since my dear mother died, unless you count her old house-elf, and he's gone round the twist, hasn't cleaned anything in ages…"

"Sirius?" Mundungus piped up, holding a goblet in his hands. "This solid silver, mate?"

"Yes," Sirius replied with disgust. "Finest fifteenth-century goblin-wrought silver, embossed with the Black family crest."

"That'd come off, though," Mundungus said thoughtfully. Liza rolled her eyes at him.

"Fred—George—NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. Liza turned to see the cauldron, now full of stew, along with a bottle of butterbeer and a breadboard with a knife flying through the air. The cauldron landed roughly on the table and skidded the entire length before coming to a stop just before it could topple off. The bottle of butterbeer crashed onto the floor, sending liquid everywhere, and the knife fell off the breadboard and landed into the table where Sirius's hand had been a second before. Harry and Sirius were all standing a foot away from the table, while Mundungus had fallen backwards off of his chair.

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. "THERE WAS NO NEED—I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS—JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW YOU DON'T NEED TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!"

"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" Fred said defensively. He hurried over to the table and pulled the knife out of the wood, saying, "Sorry Sirius, mate—didn't mean to…" Harry and Sirius, however, were howling with laughter. Mundungus got up off the floor, muttering various swear words under his breath. Mr. Weasley picked up the cauldron of stew and set it in the center of the table.

"Boys," he said calmly, turning to the twins, "your mother's right, you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age…"

"None of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!" Mrs. Weasley continued, enraged. "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't Charm everything he met! Percy—!" She stopped very suddenly, looking very upset.

"Let's eat," Billy cut in, watching his mother warily.

"It looks wonderful, Molly," Lupin said, spooning some stew into a bowl and passing it to her. Everyone took that as their cue to sit down. Lupin passed out more bowls of stew, and there was silence as everyone began their dinner.

"I've been meaning to tell you," Mrs. Weasley said to Sirius, "there's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it could just be a boggart, but I thought we ought to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out."

"Whatever you like," Sirius said.

"The curtains in there are full of doxies too," Mrs. Weasley continued. "I thought we might try and tackle them tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," Sirius said in a bored voice. Next to them, Hermione and Ginny were being entertained by Tonks. Tonks was a Metamorphmagus, which meant she could change her physical appearance at will, and she was changing her nose into different shapes. Hermione and Ginny were soon asking for their favorites.

Meanwhile, Liza was listening to the conversation going on between Mr. Weasley, Lupin, and Bill, who were talking about goblins.

"They're not giving anything away yet," Bill was saying. "I still can't work out whether they believe he's back or not. 'Course, they might prefer not to take sides at all. Keep out of it."

"I'm sure they'd never go over to You-Know-Who," Mr. Weasley said. "They've suffered losses, too. Remember that goblin family he murdered last time, somewhere near Nottingham?"

"I think it depends what they're offered," Lupin said. "And I'm not talking about gold; if they're offered freedoms we've been denying them for centuries they're going to be tempted. Have you still not had any luck with Ragnok, Bill?"

"Who's Ragnok?" Liza asked with interest.

"He's one of the goblins I work with at Gringotts," Billy replied. "He's feeling pretty anti-wizard at the moment. He hasn't stopped raging about the Bagman business, he reckons the Ministry did a cover-up, those goblins never got their gold from him, you know…"

Loud laughter distracted Liza from the goblin conversation, and she looked at where Fred, George, Ron, and Mundungus were sitting. Mundungus was telling them a story.

"…and then," Mundungus said, having trouble talking through his laughter, "and then, if you'll believe it, 'e says to me, 'e says, ''ere Dung, where didja get all them toads from? 'Cos some son of a Bludger's gone and nicked all mine!' And I says, 'Nicked all your toads, Will, what next? So you'll be wanting some more, then?' And if you'll believe me, lads, the gormless gargoyle buys all 'is own toads back orf me for twice what 'e paid in the first place—!"

"I don't think we need to hear any more of your business dealings, thank you very much, Mundungus," Mrs. Weasley called from her end of the table as her sons howled with laughter.

"Beg pardon, Molly," Mundungus said. "But, you know, Will nicked 'em orf Warty Harris in the first place so I wasn't really doing nothing wrong…"

"I don't know where you learning about right and wrong, Mundungus, but you seem to have missed a few crucial lessons," Mrs. Weasley snapped. Mundungus just shrugged and swallowed some more butterbeer.

After everyone finished with their main course, Mrs. Weasley brought out some rhubarb crumble and custard for dessert. Everyone helped themselves to as much as they could manage, and soon Liza was yawning.

"Nearly time for bed, I think," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Not just yet, Molly," Sirius said, looking at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort." Liza looked up, intrigued yet wary of Harry's reaction. She didn't feel tired anymore.

"I did!" Harry said. "I asked Ron, Hermione, and Liza but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so…"

"And they're quite right," Mrs. Weasley said through clenched teeth. "You're too young."

"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" Sirius shot back. "Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happening."

"Hang on!" George spoke up indignantly.

"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" Fred asked.

"_We've_ been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" George cried.

"'_You're too young, you're not in the Order_,'" Fred sneered, imitating his mother's voice. "Harry's not even of age!"

"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," Sirius said. "That's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand…"

"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"

"Which bit?" Sirius asked

"The bit about not telling Harry more than he _needs to know_," Mrs. Weasley replied. Everyone was looking back and forth between Mrs. Weasley and Sirius.

"I don't intend to tell him more than he _needs to know_, Molly," Sirius replied. "But as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back he has more right than most to—."

"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!" Mrs. Weasley said, her face red. "He's only fifteen and—!"

"And he's dealt with as much as most in the Order," Sirius countered, "and more than some…"

"No one's denying what he's done!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. "But he's still…"

"He's not a child!" Sirius said, losing his patience.

"He's not an adult either!" Mrs. Weasley argued. "He's not _James_, Sirius!"

"I'm perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly," Sirius said, his eyes hard.

"I'm not sure you are!" Mrs. Weasley said. "Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!"

"What's wrong with that?" Harry cut in.

"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are _not_ your father, however much you might look like him!" Mrs. Weasley responded. "You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!"

"Meaning I'm an irresponsible godfather?" Sirius asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Meaning you've been known to act rashly, Sirius," Mrs. Weasley said, "which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home."

"We'll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!" Sirius snapped.

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley cried, wheeling around to look at her husband. "Arthur, back me up!" But Mr. Weasley didn't answer. He took his glasses off and cleaned them, carefully looking away from his wife. He replaced his glasses on his nose before speaking.

"Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly," he said evenly. "He accepts that Harry will have to filled in to a certain extent now that he is staying at headquarters."

"Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting him to ask whatever he likes!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Personally," Lupin cut in, "I think it better that Harry gets the facts—not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture—from us, rather than a garbled version from…others."

"Well," Mrs. Weasley stammered, looking around for someone who supported her, "well…I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has got Harry's best interests at heart…"

"He's not your son," Sirius pointed out.

"He's as good as," Mrs. Weasley replied. "Who else has he got?"

"He's got me!" Sirius exclaimed incredulously.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley said. "The thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?" Sirius stood up swiftly.

"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry," Lupin said. "Sirius, sit _down_." Mrs. Weasley was quiet, and Sirius returned to his chair. "I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this," Lupin added. "He's old enough to decide for himself."

"I want to know what's been going on," Harry insisted.

"Very well," Mrs. Weasley said. "Ginny—Ron—Hermione—Liza—Fred—George—I want you out of the kitchen, now." This last statement didn't go over so well.

"We're of age!" Fred and George shouted at the same time.

"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" Ron cried.

"Mum, I _want_ to!" Ginny whined. Liza looked helplessly at Sirius, who shrugged minutely at her.

"NO!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. "I absolutely forbid—!"

"Molly, you can't stop Fred and George," Mr. Weasley said. "They _are_ of age…"

"They're still at school!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"But they're legally adults now," Mr. Weasley replied.

"I—oh, all right then, Fred and George can stay, but Ron—!" Mrs. Weasley began.

"Harry'll tell me, Hermione, and Liza everything you say anyway!" Ron interrupted. "Won't—won't you?" he asked, glancing to his friend.

"'Course I will," Harry replied.

"Fine!" Mrs. Weasley cried. "Fine! Ginny—BED!" She ushered her daughter out of the room, who was yelling that it was unfair that she couldn't stay. Liza wanted to let Ginny know that she and Hermione would tell Ginny everything when they went up to bed, but she couldn't say that in front of Mrs. Weasley. Ginny's yells woke up Mrs. Black's portrait, and Lupin left the kitchen to stop the racket. When he returned, Sirius looked at Harry.

"Okay, Harry," he said, "what do you want to know?"

"Where's Voldemort?" Harry asked immediately. "What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news, and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything…"

"That's because there haven't been any suspicious deaths yet," Sirius explained, "not as far as we know, anyway… And we know quite a lot."

"More than he thinks we do anything," Lupin added.

"How come he's stopped killing people?" Harry asked.

"Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself at the moment," Sirius replied. "It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up."

"Or rather, you messed it up for him," Lupin said, smiling.

"How?" Harry asked.

"You weren't supposed to survive!" Sirius exclaimed. "Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he'd come back. But you survived to bear witness."

"And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore," Lupin continued. "And you made sure Dumbledore knew at once."

"How has that helped?" Harry asked.

"Are you kidding?" Bill shot back. "Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was ever scared of!"

"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned," Sirius said.

"So what's the Order been doing?" Harry asked.

"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans," Sirius replied.

"How d'you know what his plans are?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore's got a shrewd idea," Lupin said, "and Dumbledore's shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate."

"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?" Harry asked.

"Well, firstly, he wants to built up his army again," Sirius replied. "In the old days he had huge numbers at his command; witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one group he's after. He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."

"So you're trying to stop him getting more followers?" Harry guessed.

"We're doing our best," Lupin said, nodding.

"How?" Harry asked.

"Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them on their guard," Bill answered. "It's proving tricky, though."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because of the Ministry's attitude," Tonks said. "You saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know-Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn't shifted his position at all. He's absolutely refusing to believe it's happened."

"But why?" Harry asked impatiently. "Why's he being so stupid? If Dumbledore…"

"Ah, well, you've put your finger on the problem," Mr. Weasley said. "_Dumbledore_."

"Fudge is frightened of him, you see," Tonks said.

"Frightened of Dumbledore?" Harry echoed.

"Frightened of what he's up to," Mr. Weasley said. "You see, Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister of Magic."

"But Dumbledore doesn't want—," Harry began.

"Of course he doesn't," Mr. Weasley cut in. "He's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job."

"Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice," Lupin continued. "But it seems that he's become fond of power now, and much more confident. He loves being Minister of Magic, and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it."

"How can he think that?" Harry raged. "How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up—that _I'd_ make it all up?"

"Because accepting that Voldemort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't had to cope with for nearly fourteen years," Sirius answered. "Fudge just can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore's lying to destabilize him."

"You see the problem," Lupin went on. "While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort, it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the _Daily Prophet_ not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumor-mongering, so most of the Wizarding community are completely unaware anything's happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters, if they're using the Imperius Curse."

"But you're telling people, aren't you?" Harry asked, almost desperately. "You're letting people know he's back?"

"Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass murderer and the Ministry's put a ten-thousand-Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?" Sirius laughed without humor.

"And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community," Lupin said. "It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."

"Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off," Sirius continued, "and it's very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry, because you can bet Voldemort will have them."

"We're managed to convince a couple of people, though," Mr. Weasley said. "Tonks here, for one—she's too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage—Kingsley Shacklebolt's been a real asset too. He's in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he's been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in Tibet."

"But if none of you's putting the news out that Voldemort's back…" Harry said.

"Who said none of us was putting the news out?" Sirius asked. "Why d'you think Dumbledore's in such trouble?"

"What d'you mean?" Harry asked.

"They're trying to discredit him," Lupin said. "Didn't you see the _Daily Prophet_ last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip, but it's not true, he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemort's return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot—that's the Wizard High Court—and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too."

"But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog cards," Bill added, chuckling.

"It's no laughing matter," Mr. Weasley said. "If he carries on defying the Ministry like this, he could end up in Azkaban and the last thing we want is Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows Dumbledore's out there and wise to what he's up to, he's going to go cautiously for a while. If Dumbledore's out of the way—well, You-Know-Who will have a clear field." Liza shuddered at the thought.

"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters, it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?" Harry reasoned.

"Voldemort doesn't march up to people houses and bang on their front doors, Harry," Sirius said gently. "He tricks, jinxes, and blackmails them. He's well-practiced at operating in secrecy. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in, he's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on them at the moment."

"What's he after apart from followers?" Harry asked.

"Stuff he can only get by stealth," Sirius replied vaguely. Harry frowned, looking confused, and Sirius added, "Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."

"When he was powerful before?" Harry clarified.

"Yes," Sirius replied.

"Like what kind of weapon?" Harry asked. "Something worse than the _Avada Kedavra_—?"

"That's enough," Mrs. Weasley said in a dangerous voice. Liza jumped at the sound of her voice, not having noticed that she had returned.

"I want you in bed, now," Mrs. Weasley said. "All of you." She looked at the other school-aged people in the room.

"You can't boss us—," Fred started.

"Watch me," Mrs. Weasley interrupted angrily. "You've given Harry plenty of information. Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway."

"Why not?" Harry asked. "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight…"

"No," Lupin cut in. "The Order is comprised only of overage wizards. Wizards who have left school," he added before Fred or George could say anything. "There are dangerous involved of which you can have no idea, any of you…I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough." Sirius shrugged but didn't say anything, and Mrs. Weasley gestured for her sons, Liza, and Hermione to get up.

"Thank you, Sirius," Liza murmured to him when she passed.

"Good night, Liza," Sirius said with a ghost of a smile on his face.

**~LJ:NK~**


	4. Chapter 4 Summer Cleaning

_**A/N: Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

**Chapter 4 – Summer Cleaning**

"I want you all to go straight to bed, no talking," Mrs. Weasley said as she followed her children, Harry, Hermione, and Liza up the stairs. "We've got a busy day tomorrow. I expect Ginny's asleep, so try not to wake her up," she added to Hermione and Liza when they reached the first landing.

"Good night," Hermione and Liza said to the others, and they entered the bedroom. It was much like the other bedrooms in the house, except a third bed had been squeezed in. When Hermione had shut the door, Ginny sat straight up in her bed.

"Tell me what happened!" she demanded.

"Shhh, Ginny," Liza hushed her. "We'll tell you in a minute. Let us get dressed for bed first." She and Hermione quickly pulled on their pajamas and crawled into their beds.

"Now can you tell me?" Ginny asked impatiently.

"Honestly, a lot of stuff that they talked about was stuff we already knew," Liza began in a whisper. "That Fudge and the Ministry doesn't believe us and they're doing everything they can to discredit Dumbledore and Harry. That the Order is trying to recruit people to our side, and not just witches and wizards but also other magical creatures like goblins and giants."

"You-Know-Who's lying low because Harry wasn't supposed to survive," Hermione continued. "But even though he's lying low, he's also been recruiting people and creatures over to his side."

"I can't believe Mum wouldn't let me hear any of this," Ginny grumbled.

"The new piece of information is that You-Know-Who is after something other than troops for his army," Liza said. "Sirius was very vague about it, but he said that You-Know-Who is after something like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."

"A weapon?" Ginny repeated, sounding puzzled.

"Shhh!" Hermione hissed suddenly. The other two girls fell silent as they listened to feet coming back down the stairs. Whoever it was paused on the landing, obviously listening for talking. After a few moments, the person continued down the stairs.

"That was probably your mum," Hermione said quietly. "She told us she didn't want us to stay up talking."

"But what kind of weapon could You-Know-Who be looking for?" Ginny asked.

"No idea," Liza said. "You'd think that he wouldn't need one. He's got a wand, that's all the weapon a wizard needs, isn't it?"

"We should probably get to sleep," Hermione said. "Like Mrs. Weasley said, we've got a lot of work to do tomorrow."

"I suppose you're right," Liza sighed. "Goodnight Hermione, Ginny."

"Goodnight," came two voices on either side of Liza. Liza pulled her covers up to her chin and fell asleep.

**~LJ:NK~**

The following morning after breakfast, Liza joined Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny in the drawing room to begin decontamination. Mrs. Weasley first had them tie some cloths around their noses and mouths and gave them each a spray bottle full of black liquid.

"Cover your faces and take a spray," Mrs. Weasley instructed as Harry and Ron finally joined the rest of the group. "It's Doxycide. I've never seen an infestation this bad—_what _that house-elf's been doing for the last ten years…"

"Kreacher's really old," Hermione spoke up indignantly, "he probably couldn't manage…"

"You'd be surprised what Kreacher can manage when he wants to, Hermione," Sirius said as he entered the drawing room. He was carrying a bag full of rats. "I've just been feeding Buckbeak," he explained when they all looked at the bag. "I keep him upstairs in my mother's bedroom. Anyway…this writing desk…" He set the bag of rats down and looked at the desk in question.

"Well, Molly, I'm pretty sure this is a boggart," Sirius remarked, "but perhaps we ought to let Mad-Eye have a shifty at it before we let it out—knowing my mother it could be something much worse."

"Right you are, Sirius," Mrs. Weasley said. There was a sound of a bell from somewhere downstairs, and Mrs. Black's portrait began to cause a ruckus again.

"I keep telling them not to ring the doorbell!" Sirius complained. He left the room to stop the noises.

"Close the door, please, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, and Harry went very slowly to close the door. When he finally closed it and returned to the group, Mrs. Weasley turned to the book that was sitting open on the couch.

"Right, you lot, you need to be careful, because doxies bite and their teeth are poisonous," Mrs. Weasley informed them. "I've got a bottle of antidote here, but I'd rather nobody needed it." She stood up and gathered them around the curtains in the room. There was a loud buzzing noise coming from behind them. "When I say the word, start spraying immediately," Mrs. Weasley continued. "They'll come flying out at us, I expect, but it says on the sprays one good squirt will paralyze them. When they're immobilized, just throw them in this bucket." They all lined up with their bottles pointed to the curtains. "All right—_squirt_!"

They all began spraying at the curtains. Doxies flew out of them, flying angrily towards their attackers. Liza sprayed two quickly in the face, and they both became paralyzed and fell to the floor. She picked them up and tossed them into Mrs. Weasley's bucket.

"Fred, what are you doing?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Spray that at once and throw it away!" Fred was holding a doxy up, studying it as it struggled to get free.

"Right-o," Fred said, squirting the doxy directly in the face. The doxy was paralyzed immediately, but Liza saw Fred pocket the creature instead of throwing it in the bucket. Liza shook her head and continued to spray doxies out of the air.

The spraying took a few hours, and finally Mrs. Weasley told them they could take their masks off. The curtains were now silent and damp from all the spray, and the paralyzed doxies were sitting in the bucket on the floor. There was also a bowl of doxy eggs that they had discovered as well.

"I think we'll tackle _those_ after lunch," Mrs. Weasley said, pointing at a set of cabinets, which looked like they were full of odds and ends. Downstairs the doorbell rang again, and Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Stay here," she told them all. "I'll bring up some sandwiches." She left the room, shutting the door behind them, and everyone else ran to the windows to look at the front stoop.

"Mundungus!" Hermione exclaimed. Liza looked down to the front door to see the man with his arms full of cauldrons.

"What's he brought all those cauldrons for?" Liza asked

"Probably looking for a safe place to keep them," Harry said. "Isn't that what he was doing the night he was supposed to be tailing me? Picking up dodgy cauldrons?"

"Yeah, you're right!" Fred said. Below, the front door opened, and Mundungus disappeared inside. "Blimey, Mum won't like that…" He and George scampered across the room and pressed their ears up to the door. Mrs. Black's screams could no longer be heard.

"Mundungus is talking to Sirius and Kingsley," Fred reported as he listened. "Can't hear properly…d'you reckon we can risk the Extendable Ears?"

"Might be worth it," George replied. "I could sneak upstairs and get a pair…" But then Mrs. Weasley began shouting at the top of her voice, and there was no need for Extendable Ears to hear what she was saying.

"WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS!" she screamed.

"I love hearing Mum shouting at someone else," Fred said, opening the door a crack so they could hear better. "It makes such a nice change."

"—COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE," Mrs. Weasley continued to shriek, "AS IF WE HAVEN'T GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS INTO THE HOUSE!"

"The idiots are letting her get into her stride," George said. "You've got to head her off early, otherwise she builds up a head of steam and goes on for hours. And she's been dying to have a go at Mundungus ever since he sneaked off when he was supposed to be following you, Harry—and there goes Sirius's mum again…" He went to push the door closed, but before he shut it, Kreacher was able to shuffle inside.

"Smells like a drain and a criminal to boot," Kreacher was mumbling to himself, "but she's no better, nasty old blood traitor with her brats messing up my Mistress's house, oh my poor Mistress, if she knew, if she knew the scum they've let in her house, what would she say to old Kreacher, oh the shame of it, Mudbloods and werewolves and traitors and thieves, poor old Kreacher, what can he do…"

"Hello, Kreacher," Fred said, catching the elf's attention. He stopped for a moment and then pretended to be surprised.

"Kreacher did not see Young Master," he said. He bowed low to Fred, but muttered darkly, "Nasty little brat of a blood traitor it is."

"Sorry?" George said. "Didn't catch that last bit."

"Kreacher said nothing," the elf said, giving George a bow, but then he said again to the carpet, "and there's its twin, unnatural little beasts they are." Liza shook her head but said nothing to the elf, who stood up straight again.

"…and there's the Mudblood, standing there bold as brass," Kreacher continued under his breath, "oh if my Mistress knew, oh how she'd cry, and there's a new boy, Kreacher doesn't know his name, what is he doing here, Kreacher doesn't know…"

"This is Harry, Kreacher," Hermione introduced. "Harry Potter." Kreacher's eyes widened.

"The Mudblood is talking to Kreacher as though she is my friend," he said in a panicked voice, "if Kreacher's Mistress saw him in such company, oh what would she say…"

"Don't call her a Mudblood!" Ron, Liza, and Ginny all snapped at the elf.

"It doesn't matter," Hermione said, "he's not in his right mind, he doesn't know what he's saying…"

"Don't kid yourself, Hermione, he knows _exactly_ what he's saying," Fred interrupted her. Kreacher wasn't listening to them, but rather examining Harry.

"Is it true?" Kreacher asked himself. "Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the scar, it must be true, that's that boy who stopped the Dark Lord, Kreacher wonders how he did it…"

"Don't we all, Kreacher?" Fred sighed.

"What do you want anyway?" George asked.

"Kreacher is cleaning," the elf replied.

"A likely story," Sirius said, returning to the drawing room. Kreacher jumped and then bowed very low to the ground at the sight of his master. "Stand up straight," Sirius told the elf. "Now, what are you up to?"

"Kreacher is cleaning," Kreacher repeated. "Kreacher lives to serve the noble house of Black…"

"And it's getting blacker every day, it's filthy," Sirius said.

"Master always liked his little joke," Kreacher said. Then he began to mutter again, saying, "Master was a nasty ungrateful swine who broke his mother's heart…"

"My mother didn't have a heart, Kreacher," Sirius said. "She kept herself alive out of pure spite."

"Whatever Master says," Kreacher said, bowing once more. Then he snarled darkly, "Master is not fit to wipe slime from his mother's boots, oh my poor Mistress, what would she say if she saw Kreacher serving him, how she hated him, what a disappointment he was…"

"I asked you what you were up to," Sirius said. "Every time you show up pretending to be cleaning, you sneak something off to your room so we can't throw it out."

"Kreacher would never move anything from its proper place in Master's house," Kreacher said, then muttered, "Mistress would never forgive Kreacher if the tapestry was thrown out, seven centuries it's been in the family, Kreacher must save it, Kreacher will not let Master and the blood traitors and the brats destroy it…"

"I thought it might be that," Sirius said, looking at the wall on the other side of the room from the window. "She'll have put another Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of it, I don't doubt, but if I can get rid of it I certainly will. Now go away, Kreacher."

"…comes back from Azkaban ordering Kreacher around," Kreacher grumbled as he grudgingly and slowly left the room, "oh my poor Mistress, what would she say if she saw the house now, scum living in it, her treasures thrown out, she swore he was no son of hers and he's back, they say he's a murderer too…"

"Keep muttering and I will be a murderer!" Sirius snapped, and he threw the door of the drawing room shut.

"Sirius, he's not right in the head," Hermione said, "I don't think he realizes we can hear him."

"He's been alone too long," Sirius commented, "taking mad orders from my mother's portrait and talking to himself, but he was always a foul little..."

"If you just set him free," Hermione said quickly, "maybe…"

"We can't set him free, he knows too much about the Order," Sirius said. "And anyway, the shock would kill him. You suggest to him that he leaves this house, see how he takes it."

"If he died from shock, then he'd be out of the way and he couldn't tell anyone about the Order," Liza suggested, chuckling. Hermione gave her a hurt look, but Sirius also let out a laugh. Then he walked over to the tapestry that he had mentioned, and the others followed him.

On the tapestry was a large family tree. It was very faded and looked like the doxies may have tried to eat some of it. At the top was a label that read "the noble and most ancient house of Black", and directly under that was the phrase "Toujours Pur".

"You're not on here!" Harry exclaimed, looking at the bottom of the tree.

"I used to be there," Sirius replied, gesturing to a small hole in the tapestry. "My sweet old mother blasted me off after I ran away from home—Kreacher's quite fond of muttering the story under his breath."

"You ran away from home?" Liza asked interestedly.

"When I was about sixteen," Sirius answered. "I'd had enough."

"Where did you go?" Harry asked.

"Your dad's place," Sirius replied, smiling. "Your grandparents were really good about it; they sort of adopted me as a second son. Yeah, I camped out at your dad's during the school holidays, and then when I was seventeen I got a place of my own, my Uncle Alphard had left me a decent bit of gold—he's been wiped off here too, that's probably why—anyway, after that I looked after myself. I was always welcome and Mr. and Mrs. Potter's for Sunday lunch, though."

"But…why did you…?" Harry asked.

"Leave?" Sirius finished for him. "Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal…my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them…that's him." He pointed at the spot next to where his name used to be. The name Regulus Black was printed there, along with the dates of his birth and death.

"He was younger than me," Sirius added, "and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded."

"But he died," Liza said, her brow furrowed.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "Stupid idiot…he joined the Death Eaters."

"You're kidding!" Harry exclaimed.

"Come on, Harry, haven't you seen enough of this house to tell what kind of wizards my family were?" Sirius asked.

"Were—were your parents Death Eaters as well?" Harry asked.

"No, no," Sirius said, shaking his head, "but believe me, they thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the Wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and having purebloods in charge. They weren't alone either, there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true colors, who thought he had the right idea about things... They got cold feet when they saw what he was prepared to do to get power, though. But I bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first."

"Was he killed by an Auror?" Harry asked.

"Oh no," Sirius said. "No, he was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders, more likely, I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don't just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It's a lifetime of service or death."

"Lunch," Mrs. Weasley called from the doorway. She was carrying a tray full of sandwiches and cake. She still looked quite angry about Mundungus and his cauldrons. The Weasleys and Hermione went over to get their food, but Harry and Liza stayed with Sirius by the tapestry.

"I haven't looked at this for years," Sirius said as he took a closer look. "There's Phineas Nigellus…my great-great-grandfather, see? Least popular headmaster Hogwarts ever had…and Araminta Meliflua…cousin of my mother's…tied to force through a Ministry Bill to make Muggle-hunting legal…and dear Aunt Elladora…she started the family tradition of beheading house-elves when they got too old to carry tea trays…of course, anytime the family produced someone halfway decent they were disowned. I see Tonks isn't on here. Maybe that's why Kreacher won't take orders from her—he's supposed to do whatever anyone in the family asks him…"

"You and Tonks are related?" Harry asked.

"Oh yeah, her mother, Andromeda, was my favorite cousin," Sirius explained. "No, Andromeda's not on here either, look…" He pointed to another hole that was between the names Bellatrix and Narcissa. "Andromeda's sisters are still here because they made lovely, respectable pure-blood marriages, but Andromeda married a Muggle-born, Ted Tonks, so…" He pretended to point a wand at the tapestry and blast a name off.

"You're related to the Malfoys!" Harry said, pointing at the name next to Narcissa, which was Lucius Malfoy. Draco Malfoy was underneath them.

"The pure-blood families are all interrelated," Sirius said dismissively. "If you're only going to let your sons and daughters marry purebloods your choice is very limited, there are hardly any of us left. Molly and I are cousins by marriage and Arthur's something like my second cousin once removed. But there's no point looking for them on here—if ever a family was a bunch of blood traitors it's the Weasleys."

"Ha!" Liza said, finally finding the name she was looking for. "Look, here's John and his family…" She pointed to where the McDevlyns were listed on the other side of the tree.

"I didn't even think that your boyfriend might be on this thing," Sirius said. "Very interesting."

"Lestrange…" Harry said, looking at the name Bellatrix.

"They're in Azkaban," Sirius replied. "Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus came in with Barty Crouch, Junior. Rodolphus's brother, Rabastan, was with them too."

"You never said she was your—," Harry started.

"Does it matter if she's my cousin?" Sirius interrupted hotly. "As far as I'm concerned, they're not my family. _She's_ certainly not my family. I haven't seen her since I was your age, unless you count a glimpse of her coming in to Azkaban. D'you think I'm proud of having relatives like her?"

"Sirius," Liza said softly.

"Sorry," Harry said, "I didn't mean—I was just surprised, that's all…"

"It doesn't matter, don't apologize," Sirius said. He turned his back on the tapestry. "I don't like being back here," he explained. "I never thought I'd be stuck in this house again. It's ideal for headquarters, of course. My father put every security measure known to Wizard-kind on it when he lived here. It's Unplottable, so Muggles could never come and call—as if they'd have wanted to—and now Dumbledore's added his protection, you'd be hard put to find a safer house anywhere. Dumbledore's Secret-Keeper for the Order, you know—nobody can find headquarters unless he tells them personally where it is—that note Moody showed you last night, that was from Dumbledore… If my parents could see the use it was being put to now…well, my mother's portrait should give you some idea…" He let out a sigh and said, "I wouldn't mind if I could just get out occasionally and do something useful. I've asked Dumbledore whether I can escort you to your hearing—as Snuffles, obviously—so I can give you a bit of moral support, what d'you think?"

Harry didn't say anything. Instead he looked over at where all the others were having lunch.

"Don't worry," Sirius said, and Harry turned back to him. "I'm sure they're going to clear you, there's definitely something in the International Statute of Secrecy about being allowed to use magic to save your own life."

"Yeah, Harry, it'll be okay," Liza said, smiling.

"But if they do expel me," Harry mumbled, "can I come here and live with you?"

"We'll see," Sirius replied.

"I'd feel a lot better about the hearing if I knew I didn't have to go back to the Dursleys," Harry added, sounding hopeful.

"They must be bad if you prefer this place," Sirius said.

"Hurry up, you three, or there won't be any food left," Mrs. Weasley said loudly, looking at the three of them. They went over to the tray to get some sandwiches.

After lunch, they began to empty out the cabinets. It was a lot more difficult than Liza thought it would be, as many of the objects seemed to want to stay put. The first thing Sirius attempted to pull out was a snuffbox, and it bit his hand, turning it dark and crusty.

"It's okay," Sirius assured them, examining his hand before waving his wand over it, returning it to normal, "must be Wartcap powder in there." Then he tossed the box into a large sack where they were throwing all the things to be thrown out.

There were many other interesting objects in the cabinets as well. There was a silver instrument that crawled up Harry's arm as soon as he'd picked it up. Sirius grabbed it, threw it down onto the floor, and smashed it with a book called _Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy_. There was also a music box, which they opened to hear what it sounded like. A few minutes later, they were practically falling asleep when Ginny quickly shut it and the music ceased. Next was a locket that none of them could open, a pile of old seals, and an Order of Merlin, First Class, which had belonged to Sirius's grandfather.

"It means he gave them loads of gold," Sirius sneered, tossing the medal into the sack with everything else.

They were doing very well with the cleaning. The only hindrance was Kreacher, who kept coming into the room to try and smuggle things out of their garbage sack. They caught him every time, and he would mutter darkly as he retreated from the room again. The last thing he tried to steal was a large gold right with the Black family crest on it, and Sirius had to practically wrestle it out of Kreacher's hands. Kreacher burst into tears and ran from the room.

"It was my father's," Sirius explained, dropping the ring back into the garbage sack. "Kreacher wasn't _quite_ as devoted to him as to my mother, but I still caught him snogging a pair of my father's old trousers last week."

**~LJ:NK~**

The next few days were just like the rest of the summer had been for Liza and the Weasleys, except now Harry was with them as well. They finished the drawing room in three days, and then set to work on the next room.

The doorbell rang many times a day, bringing in members of the Order. Harry, Liza, Hermione, and the Weasleys were constantly trying to eavesdrop to find out any information they could, but Mrs. Weasley would call them back to their work before they could hear anything good. Most of the time, whoever had rang the bell only stayed for a little while, but sometimes they stayed longer. Tonks spent an afternoon helping them with a ghoul they had found in one of the upstairs bathrooms, and Lupin helped to fix an old grandfather clock. Even Mundungus helped out for a little while one day, saving Ron from being strangled by a set of old robes .

Then, on Wednesday evening at dinner, they were all reminded of Harry's hearing.

"I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry," she said to Harry, "and I want you to wash your hair tonight too. A good first impression can work wonders." Liza stopped eating and looked at her brother.

"How am I getting there?" he asked, trying to appear calm.

"Arthur's taking you to work with him," Mrs. Weasley replied.

"You can wait in my office until it's time for the hearing," Mr. Weasley added from across the table. Harry glanced at Sirius.

"Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius to go with you," Mrs. Weasley said at once, "and I must say I…"

"—think he's _quite right_," Sirius finished for her, looking upset.

"When did Dumbledore tell you that?" Harry asked.

"He came last night, when you were in bed," Mr. Weasley replied. There was a tense silence, and Mrs. Weasley took that as her cue to hustle them all off to bed.

"I know it seems early, but there is a small meeting tonight," she explained as she herded the seven kids up the stairs. "You can stay up for a little while, but don't stay up too late."

Liza, Hermione, and Ginny entered their room and changed into their pajamas.

"Do you think they'll expel Harry?" Ginny asked at once.

"Hard to say," Liza said. "I mean, Hermione and Sirius have both said that there are laws protecting underage witches and wizards so that they can do magic in emergency situations."

"Do you think they'll believe Harry about the dementors?" Hermione asked, looking concerned. "I mean, they only know that Harry did magic, but they don't know why he did it. The dementors are supposed to be under Ministry control. How would they ever explain two dementors being away from Azkaban?"

"Dunno," Liza said. "Are there wild dementors around? Ones that _aren't_ under Ministry control?"

"I suppose it could be possible," Hermione said slowly. "But I'm sure the Ministry believes they have _all_ the dementors under control, at least in Britain."

"Poor Harry," Ginny said sadly. "Well, if he is expelled, hopefully he'll be able to come back here and not sent back to his Muggle family." With that, the girls became silent. Hermione and Ginny chose to sit in bed and read, and Liza laid back onto her pillow. The next day was bound to be a very interesting day, indeed.

**~LJ:NK~**

_**A/N: I forgot to mention this on the first chapter, but if you're new to my stories, I just wanted to let you know that I don't upload on a schedule. I work on a chapter, and when it's finished, I post it. Just an FYI to any new readers.**_


	5. Chapter 5 He Got Off

_**A/N: Sorry it's been a little while! I've been having some writer's block problems, but here's chapter 5 for you!**_

**Chapter 5 – He Got Off**

Liza woke up very early the next morning, while Hermione and Ginny were still asleep. Instead of trying to go back to bed, Liza decided to get up. She quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a comfy sweatshirt and left the bedroom. Going downstairs, she entered the kitchen to find Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Mr. Weasley sitting at one end of the table.

"Morning, Liza," Lupin said, sounding surprised.

"Good morning," Liza greeted them. Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen behind Liza, and she was also surprised to see her.

"Are you sure you don't want to get any more sleep, Liza?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"No, I'm okay," Liza replied. "Just feeling a little anxious for Harry." She looked at Sirius, who was giving her a knowing look. Mrs. Weasley walked around the table to sit next to her husband.

"Good morning, dear," Mr. Weasley said, pecking his wife on the cheek. Tonks yawned and rubbed one of her eyes with the heel of her hand.

"Would you like some tea, Liza?" Mr. Weasley asked, gesturing to the teapot on the table. Liza sat down next to Sirius and helped herself to some tea. There was very little talking as the six of them drank their tea.

Soon, Harry joined them, looking tired and nervous. Mrs. Weasley jumped up from her seat as soon as he entered.

"Breakfast," she trilled. She went to the fire and started it with her wand.

"M-m-morning, Harry," Tonks yawned. "Sleep all right?"

"Yeah," Harry replied.

"I've b-b-been up all night," she explained through another yawn. "Come and sit down…" She pulled out a chair for Harry, and he sat in it.

"Good morning, Harry," Liza said, smiling at her brother. He nodded back at her.

"What do you want, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked from the fire. "Porridge? Muffins? Kippers? Bacon and eggs? Toast?"

"Just—just toast, thanks," Harry said. Mrs. Weasley set to work on his breakfast, and Lupin cleared his throat, looking at Tonks.

"What were you saying about Scrimgeour?" he asked.

"Oh…yeah…" Tonks said, frowning. "Well, we need to be a bit more careful, he's been asking Kingsley and me funny questions…" Liza watched Harry from the corner of her eye, not paying attention to the conversation happening at the table, as she sipped her tea. Mrs. Weasley put a plate of toast in front of Harry, who tried to eat it. Then Mrs. Weasley began to fuss with Harry's shirt, making sure that it was laying flat.

"And I'll have to tell Dumbledore I can't do night duty tomorrow, I'm just t-t-too tired," Tonks was saying, pulling Liza's attention back to her.

"I'll cover for you," Mr. Weasley volunteered. "I'm okay, I've got a report to finish anyway…" Then he turned to Harry and asked, "How are you feeling?" Harry only shrugged, and Mr. Weasley said, "It'll all be over soon. In a few hours' time you'll be cleared. The hearing's on my floor, in Amelia Bones's office. She's Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and she's the one who'll be questioning you."

"Amelia Bones is okay, Harry," Tonks said. "She's fair, she'll hear you out." Harry nodded.

"Don't lose your temper," Sirius added bluntly. "Be polite and stick to the facts."

"The law's on your side," Lupin reminded him gently. "Even underage wizard are allowed to use magic in life-threatening situations." Harry let out a gasp, and Liza looked over at him to see Mrs. Weasley trying to tame Harry's hair with a wet comb.

"Doesn't it ever lie flat?" she asked, sounding frustrated. Harry shook his head, sending water drops onto the table. Mr. Weasley looked at his watch.

"I think we'll go now," he said. "We're a bit early, but I think you'll be better off there than hanging around here.

"Okay," Harry agreed, standing up from the table.

"You'll be all right, Harry," Tonks said, patting Harry's arm.

"Good luck," Lupin chimed in. "I'm sure it will be fine."

"And if it's not," Sirius said gruffly, "I'll see to Amelia Bones for you…" Liza stood up and hugged Harry tightly.

"Everything will be okay," she muttered to him. Harry hugged her back but said nothing. Then Mrs. Weasley hugged him as well.

"We've all got our fingers crossed," she told him.

"Right," Harry said. "Well…see you later then." He followed Mr. Weasley from the room.

"Sirius," Liza began as soon as Harry had left, "if Harry does get expelled, you're not going to let him go back to that Muggle family of his, are you? He can stay here with you, can't he?"

"I don't know, Liza," Sirius replied, sounding miserable at the thought of Harry having to leave again.

"Do you think he'll be expelled?" Liza asked, looking at Lupin and Tonks as well.

"He shouldn't be," Tonks said. "There were dementors attacking him, so he fought back. He had to use magic to save his own life…"

"But?" Liza prompted, knowing that the adults in the room weren't speaking their minds.

"_But_ the Ministry is doing everything in their power to discredit Dumbledore and Harry," Lupin said. "There's a chance that they'll try to use an expulsion to show that Harry is unstable."

"Some justice system," Liza muttered darkly.

"Fudge is just scared of losing his power," Sirius said. "Of course he's going to do anything he can to hold onto it. But, thankfully, the decision isn't only up to him."

"This ruling could go either way," Tonks added sadly.

"We need to take our minds off this," Mrs. Weasley said firmly. "There's nothing we can do except wait. Would any of you like anything for breakfast?"

**~LJ:NK~**

It was another few hours before the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione had woken up and eaten breakfast. They were all very anxious to hear what had happened before Harry left, even if there wasn't much for Liza to tell them.

Mrs. Weasley kept them very busy that morning to keep them distracted. They managed to finish cleaning another bathroom by lunchtime, so Mrs. Weasley decided to have lunch down in the kitchen. That's where they were when Mr. Weasley escorted Harry back into the kitchen.

"Well?" Mrs. Weasley asked anxiously as everyone else became silent.

"I got off," Harry replied, grinning. There was an uproar of cheering. Liza launched herself at Harry and wrapped him in a hug. Fred and George began a little dance in the middle of the kitchen, and Ginny soon joined them.

"_He got off, he got off, he got off_," they chanted gleefully.

"I knew it!" Ron cried. "You always get away with stuff!"

"They were bound to clear you," Hermione said, looking relieved. "There was no case against you, none at all…"

"Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering they all knew I'd get off," Harry teased.

"_He got off, he got off, he got off…_"

"That's enough, settle down!" Mr. Weasley said over the noise. "Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry…"

"What?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"_He got off, he got off, he got off_…"

"Be quiet, you three!" Mr. Weasley said to his kids. "Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on level nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. Dumbledore ought to know."

"Absolutely," Sirius agreed. "We'll tell him, don't worry."

"Well, I'd better get going," Mr. Weasley said, "there's a vomiting toilet in Bethnal Green waiting for me. Molly, I'll be late, I'm covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner…"

"_He got off, he got off, he got off_…"

"That's enough—Fred—George—Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley said loudly after giving her husband a goodbye kiss. "Harry dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast…" Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Liza all sat down at the table.

"Tell us exactly what happened!" Liza said as Mrs. Weasley bustled to finished the lunch. Harry told them what happened, from the hearing's time and place being changed to Dumbledore arriving with Mrs. Figg.

"'Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there w as no way they were going to convict you," Ron said, dishing up some mashed potatoes that Mrs. Weasley had just put on the table.

"Yeah, he swung it for me," Harry agreed. Then, suddenly, he put his hand to his forehead.

"What's up?" Hermione asked.

"Scar," Harry said quietly so that only Ron, Liza, and Hermione heard him. "But it's nothing… It happens all the time now…" Hermione and Liza exchanged a worried glance.

"I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening to celebrate with us, you know," Ron said eagerly.

"I don't think he'll be able to, Ron," Mrs. Weasley replied, putting a plate of chicken onto the table. "He's really very busy at the moment."

"_HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF_—!"

SHUT UP!" Mrs. Weasley thundered.

**~LJ:NK~**

The next few days passed by in a happier blur. They were still decontaminating the house and trying to spy on Order meetings, but now everyone knew that Harry would be going back to Hogwarts with them in a few weeks. There was only one person who didn't seem as happy as the rest of them.

"I feel like Sirius has been avoiding me lately," Harry said to Hermione, Ron, and Liza one day while they were cleaning a room on the third floor. "He's been spending a lot more time with Buckbeak and away from us. Do you think he's mad that I'm going back to school?"

"I'm sure he's not," Liza said reassuringly. "Sirius knows that your education is important."

"Don't you go feeling guilty!" Hermione added. "You belong at Hogwarts, and Sirius knows it. Personally, I think he's being selfish."

"That's a bit harsh, Hermione," Ron said, "you wouldn't want to be stuck inside this house without company."

"He'll have company!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, isn't it? He just got his hopes up that Harry would be coming to live here with him."

"I don't think that's true," Harry replied. "He wouldn't give me a straight answer when I asked him if I could."

"Yeah, he didn't give me one either, when I asked him about it after Harry left for his hearing," Liza said.

"He just didn't want to get his own hopes up even more," Hermione said. "And he probably felt a bit guilty himself, because I think a part of him was really hoping you'd be expelled. Then you'd both be outcasts together."

"Come off it!" Harry and Ron both said.

"Suit yourselves," Hermione said loftily. "But I sometimes think Ron's mum's right, and Sirius gets confused about whether you're you or your father, Harry."

"So you think he's touched in the head?" Harry asked testily.

"No," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"I think he's just been lonely for a long time," Liza added. "And it doesn't help that you _are_ the spitting image of your father." Mrs. Weasley came into the room.

"Still not finished?" she asked, examining the cupboard they had been cleaning.

"I thought you might be here to tell us to have a break!" Ron cried incredulously. "D'you know how much mold we've got rid of since we arrived here?"

"You were so keen to help the Order, you can do your bit by making headquarters fit to live in," Mrs. Weasley shot back. She turned and left the room again.

"I feel like a house-elf," Ron muttered.

"Well, now that you understand what dreadful lives they lead, perhaps you'll be a bit more active in S.P.E.W.!" Hermione exclaimed. "You know, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to show people exactly how horrible it is to clean all the time—we could do a sponsored scrub of Gryffindor common room, all proceeds to S.P.E.W., it would raise awareness as well as funds…"

"I'll sponsor you to shut up about _spew_," Ron said under his breath.

"What was that, Ron?" Liza asked loudly, and Hermione looked at him curiously.

"Nothing," Ron replied, glaring at Liza, who smirked back at him.

**~LJ:NK~**

The rest of Liza's summer holiday was spent cleaning the house. Members of the Order continued to pass through, but Mrs. Weasley kept the Hogwarts-aged kids well away from any visitors. Liza and the others weren't able to get any more information from the adults.

On the last day of vacation, their Hogwarts letters finally arrived.

"Hey," Ginny said, entering the girls' bedroom that morning. She handed the other two girls their letters. "Hogwarts letters are here."

"Cutting it a bit short this year, aren't they?" Liza asked, ripping hers open. There was the usual welcoming letter and the list of new supplies they would need.

"Ohh!" Hermione squealed, emptying her envelope onto her bed. Along with her letter and list, there was a red and gold badge sitting on the bed. She picked it up and held it out for Ginny and Liza to look at. On the badge was a Gryffindor lion with a P.

"Hermione the prefect," Ginny commented, smiling. "Well, there's no surprise there. We all knew you'd get it. No offense, Liza," she added, glancing at Liza, who waved her off.

"That's perfectly okay," she said. "I have no interest in being prefect. There's one boy and girl from fifth year, though, right? Which boy do you think got it?"

"Probably Harry, right?" Ginny guessed. "I mean, he's Dumbledore's favorite."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Liza said.

"I'm going to go see if he got it," Hermione said. "Coming, Liza?"

"Yeah, sure," Liza said. "Ginny?"

"No, you two go on ahead," Ginny said. So Liza and Hermione left their room and went to Harry and Ron's room. When they opened the door, they found Harry, Ron, Fred, and George all looking confused. Harry was holding a similar red and gold badge in his hand.

"Did you—did you get…?" Hermione asked breathlessly, looking at Harry. Her eyes zeroed in on the badge, and she cried, "I knew it! Me too, Harry, me too!"

"No," Harry said, handing the badge over to Ron. "It's Ron, not me."

"What?" Liza asked, looking at Fred and George.

"Ron's prefect, not me," Harry repeated.

"_Ron_?" Hermione asked. "But…are you sure? I mean…" She trailed off, looking at Ron.

"It's my name on the letter," Ron said indignantly.

"I…" Hermione stammered. "I…well…wow! Well done, Ron! That's really…"

"Unexpected," George finished for her.

"No," Hermione insisted, although she was blushing, "no, it's not…Ron's done loads of…he's really…" The door to the bedroom opened, cutting her off. Mrs. Weasley came in, carrying freshly washed school robes.

"Ginny said the booklists had come at last," she said, sorting through the robes to find Harry's and Ron's. "If you give them to me I'll take them over to Diagon Alley this afternoon and get your books while you're packing. Ron, I'll have to get you more pajamas, these are at least six inches too short, I can't believe how fast you're growing…what color would you like?"

"Get him red and gold to match his badge," George said.

"Match his what?" Mrs. Weasley asked, distracted.

"His _badge_," Fred echoed. "His lovely shiny new _prefect's badge_." Mrs. Weasley looked around at her sons, bewildered.

"His…but…Ron, you're not…?" she spluttered. Ron held the badge up so his mother could see it, and she let out a shriek. "I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Oh, Ron, how wonderful! A prefect! That's everyone in the family!"

"What are Fred and I, next-door neighbors?" George demanded in annoyance, but Mrs. Weasley only had eyes for Ron. She grabbed him and hugged him.

"Wait until your father hears!" she cried. "Ron, I'm so proud of you, what wonderful news, you could end up just like Bill and Percy, it's the first step! Oh, what a thing to happen in the middle of all this worry, I'm just thrilled, oh _Ronnie_—!" Fred and George both mimed throwing up.

"Mum..don't…Mum, get a grip," Ron said as Mrs. Weasley began to kiss him all over his face.

"Well, what will it be?" Mrs. Weasley asked when she let go of him. "We gave Percy an owl, but you've already got one, of course."

"W-what do you mean?" Ron asked.

"You've got to have a reward for this!" Mrs. Weasley replied, beaming. "How about a nice new set of dress robes?"

"We've already bought him some," Fred said.

"Or a new cauldron, Charlie's old one's rusting through, or a new rat, you always liked Scabbers," Mrs. Weasley continued. Liza snorted at the mention of Scabbers.

"Mum, can I have a new broom?" Ron asked, looking hopeful. Mrs. Weasley's smile fell from her face. "Not a really good one!" Ron added quickly. "Just—just a new one for a change…"

"Of _course_ you can," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling again. "Well, I'd better get going if I've got a broom to buy too. I'll see you all later… Little Ronnie, a prefect! And don't forget to pack your trunks… A prefect…Oh, I'm all of a dither!" She kissed Ron on the cheek and then left the room again.

"You don't mind if we don't kiss you, do you, Ron?" Fred asked.

"We could curtsy, if you like," George added.

"Oh, shut up," Ron scowled.

"Or what?" Fred asked. "Going to put us in detention?"

"I'd love to see him try," George sniggered.

"He could if you don't watch out!" Hermione said. Fred and George laughed.

"Drop it, Hermione," Ron moaned.

"We're going to have to watch our step, George," Fred said, "with these two on our case…"

"Yeah, it looks like our law-breaking days are finally over," George said sarcastically.

"Okay, enough," Liza said, shaking her head. "Leave Ron and Hermione alone, you two."

"Only for you, Little E," George said, and he and Fred Disapparated.

"Those two!" Hermione said angrily, looking up at the ceiling. They could hear Fred and George laughing in the room one floor above them. "Don't pay any attention to them, Ron, they're only jealous!"

"I don't think they are," Ron replied. "They've always said only prats become prefects… Still, they've never had new brooms! I wish I could go with mum and choose… She'll never be able to afford a Nimbus, but there's the new Cleansweep out, that'd be great… Yeah, I think I'll go and tell her I like the Cleansweep, just so she knows…" He hurried out of the room. Harry picked up the pile of clothes Mrs. Weasley had brought in for him and started to put things away in his trunk.

"Harry?" Hermione asked after an awkward silence.

"Well done," Harry said. "Brilliant. Prefect. Great."

"Thanks," Hermione said. "Erm—Harry—could I borrow Hedwig so I can tell Mum and Dad? They'll be really pleased—I mean, prefect is something they can understand…"

"Yeah, no problem," Harry said. "Take her!" Hermione crossed the room and called Hedwig to her. Then Hermione left the room, taking the owl with her, but Liza stayed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What's wrong?" she asked as soon as she and Harry were alone.

"Nothing," Harry said quickly. He straightened up and looked at Liza, who was watching him closely. "Really," he added. "I'm happy for them. They'll be great prefects." Liza just stared at him, not saying anything for a few more seconds.

"Okay, if you don't want to tell me what's really going on in your head, you don't have to," she finally said. "But if you ever need to talk to anyone, I'm here, as cheesy as that sounds."

"Thanks," Harry said quietly, and Liza left the room. When she got back to the girls' room, she found Ginny folding things to put in her trunk and Hermione bent over a piece of parchment, writing a letter to her parents.

"Did Hermione tell you the good news?" Liza asked Ginny, sitting down on Ginny's bed and crossing her legs underneath her.

"Oh—no," Hermione said quickly, looking up. "I'm sorry, I was so excited to write to my parents." She bent back over her parchment.

"You won't mind if I tell her then?" Liza asked, smirking at the look of frustration on Ginny's face. Hermione shook her head. "Are you sure?" Liza said.

"Just tell me!" Ginny exclaimed. Liza laughed.

"We have another prefect in the house," Liza said, "but it isn't Harry." Ginny's mouth fell open.

"_Ron_?" she asked. "Ron's been made prefect?"

"You know, I'm not sure why everyone is so confused as to why Ron got it," Liza said.

"Well, Harry's Dumbledore's favorite," Ginny echoed from her earlier statement. "Everyone figured he'd get it. And honestly, after Harry, I would've possibly picked Dean. He's gotten in far less trouble than Harry and Ron, and he's less clumsy than Neville, and he's a bit brighter than Seamus."

"I suppose I never thought of the other three," Liza admitted.

For the rest of the afternoon, the girls were packing their trunks for the journey back to school. Liza was surprised to find how far her things had spread throughout the house. She had finally found all her things by late afternoon, and she had her trunk mostly packed by the time Mrs. Weasley had returned from her trip to Diagon Alley.

"I've got your books and things, girls," Mrs. Weasley said, entering their room with her arms full of parcels. "Ginny, here are your things… Hermione, here you are… And Liza, there you go. Don't bother opening anything up right now, we have guests arriving, and I'd like you all to head down to the kitchen."

The girls tossed their new things into their trunks and headed downstairs. They were joined by Harry, Ron, Fred and George on the stairs, and when they entered the kitchen, they found a large banner hung above the table that said Congratulations Ron and Hermione—New Prefects.

"I thought we'd have a little party, not a sit-down dinner," Mrs. Weasley explained to them. "Your father and Bill are on their way, Ron, I've sent them both owls and they're _thrilled_." Fred rolled his eyes, and Liza elbowed him in the side.

Sirius, Lupin, Tonks, and Kingsley were already gathered in the kitchen. The Hogwarts students all helped themselves to butterbeer, and Moody joined them shortly after.

"Oh, Alastor, I am glad you're here," Mrs. Weasley said to him in greeting. "We've been wanting to ask you for ages—could you have a look in the writing desk in the drawing room and tell us what's inside it? We haven't wanted to open it just in case it's something really nasty."

"No problem, Molly," Moody said, turning his magical eye toward the ceiling. "Drawing room," he mused aloud. "Desk in the corner? Yeah, I see it… Yeah, it's a boggart… Want me to go up and get rid of it, Molly?"

"No, no, I'll do it myself later," Mrs. Weasley replied, shaking her head. "You have your drink. We're having a little bit of a celebration, actually…" She pointed out the banner to him. "Fourth prefect in the family!" She ruffled Ron's hair, who groaned in annoyance.

"Prefect, eh?" Moody asked, looking at Ron. "Well, congratulations, authority figures always attract trouble, but I suppose Dumbledore thinks you can withstand most major jinxes or he wouldn't have appointed you…"

"Cheerful," Liza muttered to Ginny, who was standing next to her. Bill and Mr. Weasley arrived next, both offering their congratulations to Ron and then Hermione. They had also brought Mundungus with them, but Mrs. Weasley seemed to happy to mind.

"Well, I think a toast is in order," Mr. Weasley announced when everyone was gathered. He raised his own goblet and said, "To Ron and Hermione, the new Gryffindor prefects!" Hermione looked absolutely ecstatic, and Ron looked much happier now that the idea of him being prefect had sunk in.

"I was never a prefect myself," Tonks said as everyone began to fill their plates with food. "My Head of House said I lacked certain necessary qualities."

"Like what?" Ginny asked.

"Like the ability to behave myself," Tonks replied. Ginny and Liza laughed, while Hermione accidentally took a large swig of butterbeer and began to choke on it. Ginny smacked Hermione on the back a few times.

"What about you, Sirius?" Ginny asked across the table. Sirius let out a guffaw.

"No one would have made me prefect, I spent too much time in detention with James," he said. "Lupin was the good boy, he got the badge."

"I think Dumbledore might have hoped that I would be able to exercise some control over my best friends," Lupin said dryly. "I need scarcely say that I failed dismally."

Liza and Ginny piled up their plates and took a seat against the wall.

"So, are you upset that you weren't chosen for prefect?" Ginny asked as they started eating.

"No," Liza replied. "I mean, I always knew Hermione would get it. I think she deserves it. Did you see how happy she was? Besides, I'm perfectly happy with being just a regular student."

"You and me both, sister," Ginny said, chuckling.

The party went on for quite some time. Mrs. Weasley was the first one to head out of the kitchen for bed, telling her husband to make sure the kids would go to bed at a decent time. Not long after that, Liza saw Harry leave as well. Sirius, Lupin, and Moody hurried out of the room a few minutes later.

"What's going on?" Liza asked Mr. Weasley.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "I'm sure it's nothing too exciting. Speaking of exciting, you kids ought to be heading up to bed soon, so you'll be nice and refreshed for the trip to Hogwarts tomorrow."

"Aw, Dad," Ginny complained, "do we have to?"

"Yes, yes, I promised your mother I'd get you all up to bed at a decent time," Mr. Weasley said. "You can finish your drinks, but after that I want you upstairs and in bed." Liza and Ginny gulped down the rest of their butterbeer and joined Hermione.

"Your brother has done nothing but talk about his new broomstick," Hermione told Ginny. "I think I've heard him talk about how fast it can go about six times tonight.

"Can you blame him?" Ginny asked. "He's never really had anything new before, besides his wand. I wish I could have a broomstick, too. I think there are openings on the Quidditch team this year, after all…"

"Just Keeper," Liza said. "I wonder who the captain is going to be? Fred and George didn't get it, so it must be Angelina, Alicia, or Katie."

"Truthfully, I was hoping for less Quidditch talk with you two," Hermione moaned.

"Come on, let's go up to bed," Liza said. The three girls went around the room, saying goodnight to everyone who was still there, and then they climbed the stairs and entered their bedroom.

"This is the last night in this bedroom," Ginny pointed out as Hermione shut the door behind them. "I am more than ready to get back to my four-poster at school."

"Same here," Liza said, going to her trunk and unwrapping the parcels Mrs. Weasley had gotten from Diagon Alley for her. She had the two new textbooks that had been on her list of supplies and also some more ink and potions ingredients.

"So, Hogwarts tomorrow," Ginny said, looking at Liza. "Are you excited to see your boyfriend?" Liza blushed.

"Yes," she mumbled. Ginny giggled, and Hermione suppressed a grin.

"How about you?" Hermione asked the younger student. "Aren't you excited to see _your_ boyfriend?" Ginny had began dating a Ravenclaw boy named Michael Corner, who was starting his fifth year at Hogwarts, at the end of the previous year.

"Yes," Ginny replied, unembarrassed. "But I'm dating a Ravenclaw, and Liza's dating a Slytherin whose father is a Death Eater."

"Don't remind me," Liza said. "What with John's father being a Death Eater and me being holed up here with limited mail, we've hardly been able to talk all summer."

"Well, you'll be reunited tomorrow!" Ginny said with a genuine smile.

"Yeah, thankfully," Liza said. She finished putting her new things away in her trunk and shut the lid. "I think I have everything. Even Boots." She turned to her bed where her black and white tuxedo cat was curled up, snoozing away.

"I have to make sure I can find Crookshanks in the morning," Hermione said as she put a few last things into her trunk. "He hates traveling in that basket of his, and sometimes I think he'd much rather stay here with Sirius."

"He'll turn up in the morning," Liza said. Then, as if on cue, they heard a scratching and meowing coming from the other side of the bedroom door. "Speak of the devil," Liza added, and Boots lifted her head up sleepily. Hermione went to the door and opened it, letting her cat Crookshanks saunter inside.

"Well, I think it's time to go to sleep," Ginny said, having changed into her pajamas. She got into her bed and sighed, "Tomorrow I'll be back in my four-poster." Liza giggled. She and Hermione also changed into their pajamas and got into their beds.

"Goodnight," Liza, Hermione, and Ginny chorused to one another. Liza smiled, curling up around her cat, and quickly fell asleep.

**~LJ:NK~**


	6. Chapter 6 An Eccentric New Friend

_**A/N: So it's been a while, and I'm sorry about that. I just haven't been able to get into that writing mood. Since I last updated, I've had my birthday, and then there was Thanksgiving, and now I've been doing Christmas things, so I've been a bit busy. I also work every afternoon during the week. I'm really bummed out that I can't get back into writing because I was really looking forward to writing this story. Oh well. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope that you'll continue to stick with me.**_

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

**Chapter 6 – An Eccentric New Friend**

The next morning was as hectic as it always was. Mrs. Weasley was running up and down the stairs, trying to wake all the Hogwarts students and get them ready to leave.

"Good morning, Liza," Lupin said when Liza entered the kitchen. Sirius, Mr. Weasley, Tonks, and Moody were also in the kitchen.

"Morning," Liza said. "What's going on?"

"We're going to be leaving for the train station in groups," Moody explained. "Everyone's here except Sturgis Podmore."

"Who's Sturgis Podmore?" Liza asked.

"It doesn't matter," Moody said, shaking his head. "He's supposed to escort Harry with Molly and Tonks, and if he doesn't show up, we'll be a man short."

"Don't worry about it, Liza," Mr. Weasley said kindly. "We'll manage. Is your trunk packed?"

"Yes, I finished it last night," Liza replied.

"Good," Mr. Weasley said. "If you and the other girls could get your luggage down to the front door, it would be very helpful." Liza nodded and went back upstairs to her room.

"Mr. Weasley says we need to get our luggage downstairs," she reported to the other two, who were throwing their pajamas into their trunks. Together, they hauled down their trunks one by one. When they were finished, they went back upstairs so Liza and Hermione could grab their cats.

"I think that's everything," Hermione said, glancing around their room.

"We should probably get downstairs then," Ginny said from the doorway. She stepped out onto the landing, adding, "We don't want Mum to get mad."

Suddenly they heard a loud bang, and Ginny let out a screech. Liza and Hermione hurried out of the room and saw Ginny falling backwards down the stairs, having been knocked over by two trunks.

"Ginny!" Liza shouted. She and Hermione hurried after their friend, who bounced down the stairs and landed in the main hallway. The trunks landed dully on the floor on either side of her, and Mrs. Weasley let out a scream, causing the paint of Mrs. Black to wake up.

"Ah, bullocks," a voice muttered. Liza looked up to see Fred and George slinking down the stairs. They went over to their sister to see if she was all right. Mrs. Weasley also ran over to her daughter, and upon seeing the guilty looks on the twins' faces, began to yell at them.

"—COULD HAVE DONE HER A SERIOUS INJURY, YOU IDIOTS—!" she hollered.

"—FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS—!" Mrs. Black was screaming in the background. Mrs. Weasley began to mend Ginny's injuries, while still screaming at the twins, before Hermione and Liza were distracted by Lupin joining them, carrying Hedwig.

"Hedwig's brought you a letter, Hermione," he said over the yelling.

"Thank you," Hermione replied, taking the letter from Lupin. Hedwig flew over to Hermione's shoulder. "Come on, let's bring her up to Harry," Hermione added to Liza, and the girls went back up the stairs to the room Harry and Ron had been sharing.

"Mum and Dad just sent Hedwig back," Hermione said when they entered the room. Hedwig flew over to her cage, hooting at Harry.

"Are you ready yet?" Liza asked.

"Nearly—Ginny all right?" Harry asked, putting his glasses on.

"Mrs. Weasley's patched her up," Hermione replied, nodding.

"But now Moody's complaining that we can't leave unless Sturgis Podmore's here, otherwise the guard will be one short," Liza added.

"Guard?" Harry echoed. "We have to go to King's Cross with a guard?"

"_You_ have to go to King's Cross with a guard," Liza replied.

"Why?" Harry asked impatiently. "I thought Voldemort was supposed to be lying low, or are you telling me he's going to jump out from behind a dustbin to try and do me in?"

"I don't know, it's what Mad-Eye says," Liza replied sharply. Hermione glanced at her watch.

"It we don't leave soon we're definitely going to miss the train…" she moaned.

"WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!" Mrs. Weasley voiced shouted at them. Hermione jumped, turned, and hurried from the room. Liza shrugged and followed her friend.

Everyone was squeezed together on the main floor of the house. Mrs. Black's portrait was still screaming, but nobody stepped forward to try and shut the curtains around her.

"Harry, you're to come with me and Tonks," Mrs. Weasley announced when Harry and Ron had joined them. "Leave your trunk and your owl, Alastor's going to deal with the luggage… Oh, for heaven's sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said no!" Liza turned to see that Sirius had transformed into his dog Animagus and was standing next to Harry, his tail thumping against the wall. Harry and Sirius pushed through the crowd to get to the front door, and Sirius bumped Liza's hand with his nose as he passed.

"Oh honestly," Mrs. Weasley sighed, "well, on your own head be it!" She opened the door and ushered Harry and Sirius outside.

"All the trunks are here?" Moody asked, stepping forward. He had a hat pulled down low over his face to cover his magical eye. He took out his wand and waved it, and the trunks in front of him were piled up into a neat stack, with Hedwig's cage on top. Then Moody waved his wand again, and the trunks became invisible. Mr. Weasley opened the front door for Moody, who stepped outside and was gone.

"All right," Mr. Weasley said after a minute. "Girls, you'll be coming with me. Boys, you'll go with Lupin and follow us in a few minutes. Come on, girls." Hermione, Liza, and Ginny hurried to follow Mr. Weasley from the house. It was a fairly pleasant day out, which was a good thing, because it was a twenty-minute walk from the house to King's Cross. They were mostly quiet the entire way to the train station until they reached the barrier to Platform 9 and ¾.

"Hermione, Liza, you two go first," Mr. Weasley directed. Liza looped her arm around Hermione's, and the girls marched forward and through the gate. Mr. Weasley and Ginny followed a second after them, and the four of them looked around for the others.

"There they are!" Ginny said after a few moments, pointing ahead of them. Mr. Weasley, Harry, Moody, and an old woman who had to be Tonks were just beginning to unload the trunks into the train. Mr. Weasley and the girls joined them, and just as they were finishing with the trunks, Lupin, Fred, George, and Ron appeared.

"No trouble?" Moody asked Lupin.

"Nothing," Lupin replied.

"I'll still be reporting Sturgis to Dumbledore," Moody said. "That's the second time he's not turned up in a week. Getting as unreliable as Mundungus."

"Well, look after yourselves," Lupin said, offering his hand to everyone. Liza was the only one who threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, and he chuckled. When he reached Harry, he added, "You too, Harry. Be careful."

"Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled," Moody said, shaking Harry's hand as well. "And don't forget, all of you—careful what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't put it in a letter at all."

"It's been great meeting all of you," Tonks said, hugging them all. "We'll see you soon, I expect." A whistle sounded overhead, a warning that the train was about to leave.

"Quick, quick," Mrs. Weasley said, hugging everyone at least once. "Write… Be good… If you've forgotten anything we'll send it on… Onto the train, now, hurry…" Liza squatted down and hugged Sirius briefly.

"Goodbye, Snuffles," she murmured. Sirius let out a bark. Then he turned to Harry and jumped up onto his hind legs, putting his front paws on Harry's shoulders. Mrs. Weasley broke them apart quickly.

"For heaven's sake act more like a dog, Sirius!" she hissed at the dog as Liza and Harry hopped up onto the train.

"See you!" Harry yelled out the window as the train began to pull forward. Liza waved out the window, laughing as Sirius ran along the platform next to the train. After a few seconds, the platform had disappeared.

"He shouldn't have come with us," Hermione said.

"Oh lighten up," Ron said, "he hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke."

"Well," Fred piped up, "can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you later." He and George started off down the train to find their friends.

"Shall we go and find a compartment, then?" Harry asked, turning to the others. Liza nodded, but Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

"Er," Ron started, looking embarrassed.

"We're—well—Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage," Hermione said gently. Ron was looking anywhere but at Harry.

"Oh," Harry said. "Right. Fine."

"I don't think we'll have to stay there all journey," Hermione was quick to add. "Our leters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time."

"Fine," Harry said. Liza looked at him curiously.

"Well, we might see you later, then," she said, smiling at Hermione.

"Yeah, definitely," Ron said. "It's a pain having to go down there, I'd rather—but we have to—I mean, I'm not enjoying it, I'm not Percy."

"I know you're not," Harry said. Liza chuckled. Ron and Hermione said goodbye and started down to the front of the train.

"Come on," Ginny spoke up from behind Liza and Harry, "if we get a move on we'll be able to save them places."

"Right," Harry said. They were about to head off when Liza heard her name being called from behind her. She turned to see her boyfriend John McDevlyn hurrying towards her. When he reached her, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him hard.

"Oi!" Ginny said loudly. Liza turned, her arms still around John's neck, to see Ginny grinning. "Are you love-birds coming or not?"

"Would you just give me a minute?" Liza shot back, winking.

"C'mon, Harry," Ginny said, and she and Harry started down the train. Liza turned back to John, who immediately kissed her soundly on the lips.

"I missed you," he said. "This summer was awful."

"I missed you, too," Liza said. "Come on, let's catch up with the others so we have somewhere to sit." John agreed, and he helped her carry her trunk down to where Harry and Ginny were.

"Nice to see you again," Ginny teased when they caught up to her and Harry. They all continued down the train until they reached the last compartment, where they found Neville standing.

"Hi, Harry," he said. "Hi, Ginny, Liza, John… Everywhere's full… I can't find a seat…"

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked, looking into the last compartment. "There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood in here…"

"I-I didn't want to disturb anyone…" Neville muttered, blushing.

"Don't be silly," Ginny said, "she's all right." She opened the compartment door and went inside. The others followed her, looking curiously at the girl who was sitting alone.

"Hi, Luna," Ginny greeted. "Is it okay if we take these seats?" The girl looked around at the others before nodding. "Thanks," Ginny added. They took the next few minutes to store their trunks away. Liza took Boots out of her carrier and let her roam around the compartment. Ginny and Neville sat down on the same side as Luna, while Harry, Liza, and John sat on the opposite side.

"Had a good summer, Luna?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," Luna replied, watching Harry. "Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. _You're_ Harry Potter."

"I know I am," Harry replied. Neville, Liza, and John snorted. Luna looked around at them.

"And I don't know who you are," she said.

"I'm nobody," Neville hurried to answered.

"No you're not," Ginny and Liza said at the same time. Ginny continued, "Neville Longbottom—Luna Lovegood. And this is Liza Jones and John McDevlyn. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw."

"_Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure_," Luna recited. Then she went back to reading her magazine, although she was holding it upside down, so Liza wasn't sure if she was reading it or not.

The train continued on through the country, and there wasn't much talk for a while. Eventually Neville spoke up.

"Guess what I got for my birthday?" he asked.

"Another Remembrall?" Harry guessed.

"No," Neville replied, "I could do with one, though, I lost the old one ages ago… No, look at this…" He put his hand into his backpack and pulled out a small plant. It looked like a very small cactus, except it had boils instead of needles.

"_Mimbulus mimbletonia_," he announced. The others looked warily at it, but Neville seemed rather proud. "It's really, really rare," he explained. "I don't know if there's one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, even. I can't wait to show it to Professor Sprout. My great-uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria. I'm going to see if I can breed from it."

"Isn't your great-uncle Algie the one who accidentally dropped you out of a window when you were a child?" Liza asked.

"What?" John said, bewildered.

"Yes," Neville replied. "He was trying to see if I had any magic in me, and when he dropped me, I bounced all the way down the driveway, but I wasn't hurt." Harry was still looking at the plant.

"Does it—er—do anything?" he asked.

"Loads of stuff!" Neville replied. "It's got an amazing defensive mechanism—hold Trevor for me…" He dropped his toad into Harry's lap, who scrambled to grab it. Neville pulled a quill out of his bag, examined his plant for a moment, and then poked it with his quill.

Liquid exploded from the plant, covering the occupants of the compartment in smelly, dark green goo.

"Neville!" Liza shrieked. She, Ginny, and John had managed to cover their faces, but Neville and Harry were soaked from head to toe.

"S-sorry," Neville said. "I haven't tried that before… Didn't realize it would be so…Don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous…" Harry spat some of the Stinksap onto the floor. The compartment door opened, and they all turned to see a girl standing in the doorway—Cho Chang, a sixth-year Ravenclaw.

"Oh…hello, Harry," she said. "Um…bad time?" Liza could hardly imagine what the scene looked like from the outside, but she was too distracted by the Stinksap in her hair.

"Oh…hi," Harry said.

"Um…" Cho stammered. "Well…just thought I'd say hello…'bye then." She closed the door and walked away from their compartment. Harry groaned loudly, tipping his head back against the seat.

"Never mind," Ginny said, pulling her wand out. "Look, we can get rid of all this easily. _Scourgify_!" The Stinksap vanished instantly.

"I really wish you'd have thought of that a few minutes ago," Liza muttered, combing her fingers through her hair even though it was clean again.

"Sorry," Neville said quietly. Liza looked over at Harry.

"What was that, by the way?" she asked.

"What?" Harry replied, handing Trevor the toad back to Neville.

"Cho Chang coming over to say hi to you," Liza said. "Since when did Cho Chang come over to say hi to you?" Harry flushed in embarrassment.

"I don't know," he replied. Liza smirked at him but left him alone.

The food trolley came by a little while later, and everyone got some snacks. Ron and Hermione joined them later, as well.

"I'm starving," Ron announced, entering the compartment and flopping onto the seat in between Harry and Liza. He took a Chocolate Frog from Harry, tore it open, and took a large bite out of the chocolate. Hermione sat down next to Neville.

"Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each house," she reported. "Boy and girl from each."

"And guess who's a Slytherin prefect?" Ron asked.

"Malfoy," Harry and Liza guessed together.

"'Course," Ron replied. "Dunno how _he_ could have gotten it; John, you should have gotten the prefect job."

"No, thank you," John said, chuckling.

"And that complete _cow_ Pansy Parkinson," Hermione continued scathingly. "How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll…"

"Wow, Hermione," Liza said, looking at her friend. "Don't keep those feeling bottled up; let it all out."

"Who's Hufflepuff?" Harry asked.

"Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott," Ron replied, rolling his eyes.

"Hannah's very nice," Liza said defensively. "And even though Ernie can be a bit irritating, he's a very good student."

"And Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw," Hermione finished.

"You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil," Luna spoke up from her corner. Everyone looked over at her, and she was watching Ron with interest.

"Yeah, I know I did," Ron replied, sounding confused.

"She didn't enjoy it very much," Luna said. "She doesn't think you treated her very well, because you wouldn't dance with her. I don't think I'd have minded, I don't like dancing very much." She went back to looking at her magazine, and Ron looked around at Ginny, who was trying very hard not to laugh.

"We're supposed to patrol the corridors every so often," Ron informed the others after a moment, "and we can give out punishments if people are misbehaving. I can't wait to get Crabbe and Goyle for something…"

"You're not supposed to abuse your position, Ron!" Hermione scolded.

"Yeah, right, because Malfoy won't abuse it at all," Ron said.

"So you're going to descend to his level?" Hermione asked.

"No, I'm just going to make sure I get his mates before he gets mines," Ron retorted. Liza rolled her eyes.

"For Merlin's sake, Ron," she muttered.

"I'll make Goyle do lines, it'll kill him, he hates writing," Ron continued gleefully. Then he mimicked Goyle's voice, saying, "_I…must…not…look…like…a…baboon's…backside…_" Everyone laughed, even Hermione, but the one who laughed the most was Luna. They all looked at her warily, who continued to laugh far longer than the rest of them.

"That was _funny_!" she insisted between gasps for air, her magazine sliding from her knees to the floor of the compartment. Liza, Ginny, John, and Neville laughed at the looked of shock on Ron's face.

"Are you taking the mickey?" he asked.

Baboon's…backside!" Luna repeated, still laughing. Suddenly, Harry reached forward and grabbed Luna's magazine from the floor.

"Can I have a look at this?" Harry asked, looking very interested. Luna nodded, still laughing at Ron. Liza watched as Harry looked through the magazine, which Liza could now see was called _The Quibbler_. Harry's almost eager face turned into one of confusion very quickly.

"Anything good in there?" Ron asked when Harry was done looking through it.

"Of course not," Hermione cut in. "_The Quibbler's_ rubbish, everyone knows that."

"Excuse me," Luna said, her voice surprisingly hard. "My father's the editor."

"I—oh," Hermione said, flustered. "Well…it's got some interesting…I mean, it's quite…"

"I'll have it back, thank you," Luna said, ignoring Hermione's stammering and grabbing the magazine back from Harry. She turned it upside down, rifled through a few pages, and then disappeared behind it again. The compartment door opened again, and Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle were there.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you detention," Malfoy said, smirking. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."

"Yeah," Harry replied, "but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone." The rest of the compartment laughed at this, except Luna.

"Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?" Malfoy asked.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione snapped.

"I seem to have touched a nerve," Malfoy said. "Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be _dogging_ your footsteps in case you step out of line."

"Get out!" Liza said sharply, standing up. Malfoy laughed before leaving, Crabbe and Goyle following him, and Liza slammed the door shut. She looked around at Hermione and Harry, who both seemed to be thinking the same thing as she was. Malfoy's 'dogging' commented could only mean that he knew the black dog on the platform had been Sirius.

The rest of the train ride was spent in mostly silence, with sporadic conversations taking place for only a few minutes. It eventually grew dark outside the train, and the lamps were lit.

"We'd better change," Hermione spoke up eventually. They all changed into their uniforms and robes, and Hermione and Ron pinned their prefect buttons onto their chests. When the train began to slow down, Hermione added, "Ron and I are supposed to make sure everyone gets off the train. Can you guys look after Crookshanks?"

"Yeah, and Pig?" Ron asked. Then he and Hermione hurried from the compartment to fulfill their prefect duties.

"I'll carry that owl, if you like," Luna offered to Harry.

"Oh—er—thanks," Harry said. Luna took Pig's cage from him, allowing him to better hold onto Hedwig's cage. Liza had Boots, and Ginny had Crookshanks. Those of them who were left slowly made their way off of the train and onto the Hogsmeade platform outside. Students were shuffling along, and Liza was surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank standing off to the side and calling first year students to her. Usually it was Hagrid who took the first years across the lake and up to the castle.

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry asked, sounding slightly distressed.

"I don't know," Ginny replied, "but we'd better get out of the way, we're blocking the door…"

"Oh yeah…" Harry said. They joined the crowd headed toward the carriages that would bring them up to the school.

"John!" a voice called from nearby. Liza and John looked to see John's Slytherin friends Jake, Rhonda, and Mary walking towards them. "Where were you?" Jake asked when they were closer.

"I sat with Liza on the train," John replied. "Why, did something happen?" Jake let out a loud laugh.

"You should have seen Rhonda going after Pansy!" he chuckled.

"I didn't go after her," Rhonda said, shaking her head. "The bitch came into our compartment showing off her prefect badge, calling us Gryffindor-huggers. No offense, Liza, but I'm no Gryffindor-hugger. I mean, I like you just fine, but that doesn't mean I like everyone in y our House."

"I understand completely," Liza said. "I don't even like everyone in my House." She and Rhonda exchanged grins. They reached the carriages, and Rhonda, Jake, and Mary piled into one.

"Are you guys coming?" Mary asked.

"You can go ahead," Liza said when John looked at her. "I'm going to go with the others." She gestured to where Harry and Ron were standing.

"All right," John said. "I'll talk to you later." He kissed her quickly, and his Slytherin friends let out fake moans.

"If anything, _you're_ the Gryffindor-hugger, McDevlyn!" Rhonda said, laughing. John hopped into the carriage with them, and it started down the path to Hogwarts. Liza trotted back over to her other friends, who were just getting into a carriage of their own.

"What's up, Harry?" Liza asked when she saw his face. He looked very confused, but he shook his head.

"Don't worry about it," he mumbled. Liza shrugged and got into the carriage behind him, and they were soon on their way up to the school.

**~LJ:NK~**


	7. Chapter 7 The Feast

_**A/N: Oh hey, look, I finished this chapter already. The entire Sorting Hat's song is in here, which I've never done before, but I feel like this is a very important song so I wanted to include it.**_

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

**Chapter 7 – The Feast**

As soon as the carriage began its journey up to the castle, Ginny spoke up.

"Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?" she asked. "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"

"I'll be quite glad if he has," Luna said. "He isn't a very good teacher, is he?"

"Yes, he is!" Harry, Ron, and Ginny retorted. Hermione and Liza remained silent, and Harry glared at them both.

"Erm…yes…" Hermione said. "He's very good." Liza shrugged but still wouldn't answer. As much as she liked Hagrid, she wasn't sure he was the best _teacher_ when it came to Hogwarts professors.

"Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw," Luna explained.

"You've got a rubbish sense of humor then," Ron replied darkly. There was silence after that, but Luna didn't seem upset at Ron's outburst. On the contrary, she simply watched him with slight interest.

Soon the carriage was coming to a halt, and the five Gryffindors and one Ravenclaw climbed out of it. They started up to the castle, but Ron paused.

"Are you coming or what?" he asked, looking at Harry. Harry was still standing next to the carriage, looking intently at the space in front of the carriage, as though there was something there.

"Oh…yeah," Harry said, shaking his head and following his friends up to the castle. The crowd of students flooded into the castle, through the Entrance Hall, and into the Great Hall, where the start-of-term feast would be held.

Ginny was the only one to say goodbye to Luna as she moved towards the Ravenclaw table; the others simply watched her go. Then Ginny also left them, deciding to sit with some of her fellow fourth-year friends.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Liza met up with Neville again about halfway down their table. The resident Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, was also sitting nearby, and Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, the other two fifth-year girls. The four sat down and looked up at the staff table at the front of the Hall.

"He's not there," Harry said, sounding disappointed.

"He can't have left," Ron said.

"Of course he hasn't," Liza said, shaking her head.

"You don't think he's…_hurt_, or anything, do you?" Hermione asked.

"No," Harry insisted immediately.

"But where is he, then?" Ron asked. Harry leaned forward towards his friends.

"Maybe he's not back yet," he said very quietly. "You know—from his mission—the thing he was doing over the summer for Dumbledore."

"Yeah, that has to be it," Liza said, nodding. Ron looked comforted by this idea, but Hermione went back to looking at the staff table.

"Who's _that_?" she asked, pointing up at the table. The others looked around to see Dumbledore in his usual seat in the middle of the table, and next to him was a very short woman dressed in all pink who was talking to the headmaster. When she turned her head so they could see her face, Harry let out a gasp.

"It's that Umbridge woman!" he exclaimed quietly.

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"She was at my hearing," Harry explained quickly, "she works for Fudge!"

"Nice cardigan," Ron smirked, and Liza snorted.

"She works for Fudge?" Hermione echoed. "What on earth's she doing here, then?"

"Dunno…" Harry replied. Hermione continued to scan the staff table, thinking hard.

"No," she said, "no, surely not…"

"What?" Liza asked urgently, but at that moment they all saw Professor Grubbly-Plank entering the Hall from a side door and taking Hagrid's usual place at the table. A moment later, the doors of the Hall opened, and Professor McGonagall came marching in, leading the group of first years to the front of the room. The Sorting Hat was placed on its regular stool, and everyone waited for a few moments until the Hat began its song.

_In times of old when I was new  
>And Hogwarts barely started<br>The founders of our noble school  
>Thought never to be parted:<br>United by a common goal,  
>They had the selfsame yearning.<br>"Together we will build and teach!"  
>The four good friends decided<br>And never did they dream that they  
>Might someday be divided.<br>For were there such friends anywhere  
>As Slytherin and Gryffindor?<br>Unless it was the second pair  
>Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?<br>So how could it have gone so wrong?  
>How could such friendships fail?<br>Why, I was there and so can tell  
>The whole sad, sorry tale.<br>Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those  
>Whose ancestry is purest."<br>Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose  
>Intelligence is surest."<br>Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those  
>With brave deeds to their name."<br>Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,  
>And treat them just the same."<br>These differences caused little strife  
>When first they came to light,<br>For each of the four founders hand  
>A House in which they might<br>Take only those they wanted, so,  
>For instance, Slytherin<br>Took only pure-blood wizards  
>Of great cunning, just like him,<br>And only those of sharpest mind  
>Were taught by Ravenclaw<br>While the bravest and boldest  
>Went to daring Gryffindor.<br>Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,  
>And taught them all she knew,<br>Thus the Houses and their founders  
>Retained friendships firm and true.<br>So Hogwarts worked in harmony  
>For several happy years,<br>But then discord crept among us  
>Feeding on our faults and fears.<br>The Houses that, like pillars four,  
>Had once held up our school,<br>How turned upon each other and,  
>Divided, sought to rule.<br>And for a while it seemed the school  
>Must meet an early end,<br>What with dueling and with fighting  
>And the clash of friend on friend<br>And at last there came a morning  
>When old Slytherin departed<br>And though the fighting then died out  
>He left us quite downhearted.<br>And never since the founders four  
>Were whittled down to three<br>Have the Houses been united  
>As they once were meant to be.<br>And now the Sorting Hat is here  
>And you all know the score:<br>I sort you into Houses  
>Because that is what I'm for,<br>But this year I'll go further,  
>Listen closely to my song:<br>Though condemned I am to split you  
>Still I worry that it's wrong,<br>Though I must fulfill my duty  
>And must quarter every year<br>Still I wonder whether sorting  
>May not bring the end I fear.<br>Oh, know the perils, read the signs,  
>The warning history shows,<br>For our Hogwarts is in danger  
>From external, deadly foes<br>And we must unite inside her  
>Or we'll crumble from within.<br>I have told you, I have warned you…  
>Let the Sorting now begin.<em>

When the Hat finished its song, there was the usual applause, although a lot of people leaned into their neighbors to whisper about what exactly the song had said.

"Branched out a bit this year, hasn't it?" Ron asked.

"Too right it has," Harry agreed.

"But it's right, even if it is just a hat," Liza said. "In dangerous times we need to stick together, not be fighting amongst ourselves…"

"I wonder if it's ever given warnings before?" Hermione said.

"Yes, indeed," Nearly Headless Nick spoke up, leaning through Neville to look at Hermione. "The hat feels itself honor-bound to give the school due warning whenever it feels…" He trailed off, looking at Professor McGonagall who was surveying the Hall with one of her famous glares. The whispers died away immediate, and Professor McGonagall gave a brief instruction to the first years before consulting her list.

"Adercrombie, Euan," was the first name to be called. The boy stumbled forward, sat on the stool, and pulled the hat onto his head. The hat was silence for a moment before calling out, "_GRYFFINDOR_!" The Gryffindors all cheered for him as he joined their table.

Slowly the first years were all sorted, and finally Professor McGonagall was taking the Sorting Hat away. Professor Dumbledore stood at the front of the Hall.

"To our newcomers, welcome!" he began, smiling down at them all. "To our old hands—welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!" There were shouts and whoops of agreement as Dumbledore sat back down and the food magically appeared on all the tables.

"Excellent," Ron moaned, piling food onto his plate immediately. The others followed suit.

"What were you saying before about the Sorting?" Hermione asked Nick. "About the hat giving warnings?"

"Oh yes," Nick said. "Yes, I have heard the hat give several warnings before, always at times when it detects periods of great danger for the school. And always, of course, its advice is the same: Stand together, be strong from within."

"Ow kunnit nofe skusin danger ifzat?" Ron said through a mouth full of food.

"Gross, Ron," Liza complained.

"I beg your pardon?" Nick asked him. Ron took a few seconds to swallow what was in his mouth before repeating, "How can it know if the school's in danger if it's a hat?"

"I have no idea," Nick admitted. "Of course, it lives in Dumbledore's office, so I daresay it picks things up there."

"And it wants all the Houses to be friends?" Harry asked, glancing over to where Malfoy was sitting at the Slytherin table. "Fat chance."

"Well, now, you shouldn't take that attitude," Nick said. "Peaceful cooperation, that's the key. We ghosts, though we belong to separate Houses, maintain links of friendship. In spite of the competitiveness between Gryffindor and Slytherin, I would never dream of seeking an argument with the Bloody Baron."

"Only because you're terrified of him," Ron pointed out.

"Terrified?" Nick said indignantly. "I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The noble blood that runs in my veins…"

"What blood?" Ron asked. "Surely you haven't still got—?"

"It's a figure of speech!" Nick cried. "I assume I am still allowed to enjoy the use of whichever words I like, even if the pleasures of eating and drinking are denied me! But I am quite used to students poking fun at my death, I assure you!"

"Nick, he wasn't really laughing at you!" Hermione tried to assure the ghost. Ron had already shoveled a large amount of food into his mouth again, so all he could say was, "Node iddum eentup eschew." Nick, however, rose into the air and floated away to another part of the table.

"Well done, Ron," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"What?" Ron asked, having swallowed again. "I'm not allowed to ask a simple question?"

"Oh forget it," Hermione said shortly.

"Back to the hat," Liza said. "You know that it's right. We have to stick together. United we're strong; divided we…_suck_."

"I'm not going to try and make friends with Malfoy," Harry insisted.

"Nobody's saying you have to make friends with everyone," Liza said. "Nobody's saying you have to be friends at all. Like Nick said, peaceful cooperation. The Houses need to learn to coexist with one another. Right?" she added sharply, but Harry wasn't looking at her. He grunted in response, concentrating on his food.

The feast finally finished, and the deserts were cleared away. Professor Dumbledore got to his feet, and the school became quiet once again.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," Dumbledore said. "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students—and a few of our older students ought to know by now too." Liza exchanged glances with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker," Dumbledore continued, "has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.

"We have two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleasured to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons." Dumbledore paused as there was polite applause for Professor Grubbly-Plank. "We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was another round of applause, still polite and unenthusiastic.

"Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the…" Dumbledore trailed off, looking over his shoulder at where Professor Umbridge was now standing. She let out a "_Hem, hem_," and looked as though she wanted to make a speech of her own. Dumbledore looked startled for only a moment before sitting down and looking attentively at the new professor. There were some mumbles around the Hall.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge said in a high-pitched voice, "for those kind words of welcome." She cleared her throat with a, "_Hem, hem_," before continuing, "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!" Liza felt her brow furrow in confusion and slight disgust.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" Umbridge said.

"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan," Liza heard Parvati saying to Lavender, and both girls covered their mouths with their hands, stifling their giggles.

Umbridge cleared her throat once more before continuing, although now she sounded much more businesslike.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance," she said. "The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching." Umbridge turned to the professors and bowed to them, but none of them bowed back. They were all watching their new colleague warily.

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school," Umbridge went on, "and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"

_Progress for progress's sake must be discouraged?_ Liza thought, frowning. _Our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering?_ She was having a hard time concentrating on what the new professor was saying, and after a glance around the Hall, she knew that most of the other students weren't paying attention, either. The other professors, however, were listening intently, and Hermione was also taking in everything Umbridge was saying.

"…because some changed will be for the better," Umbridge said as Liza forced herself to pay attention, "while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfect, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited." She sat down, and Dumbledore began to clap, alerting the rest of the school that the speech was finished. The students hurried to clap as well, and Dumbledore stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said. "Now—as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held…"

"Yes, it certainly was illuminating," Hermione agreed quietly.

"You're not telling me you enjoyed it?" Ron asked, looking at Hermione. "That was about the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy."

"I said illuminating, not enjoyable," Hermione said. "It explained a lot."

"Did it?" Harry asked. "Sounded like a load of waffle to me."

"There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle," Hermione insisted.

"Was there?" Ron asked.

"How about 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged'?" Liza pointed out, and Hermione nodded.

"Or 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited'," Hermione added.

"Well, what does that mean?" Ron asked.

"I'll tell you what it means," Hermione said grimly. "It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts." All around them, the students began to rise out of their chairs; Dumbledore must have sent them off to bed.

"Ron, we're supposed to show the first years where to go!" Hermione said, jumping up from the table.

"Oh, yeah," Ron replied. "Hey—hey you lot! Midgets!"

"_Ron_!" Hermione gasped.

"Well, they were, they're titchy…" Ron said.

"I know, but you can't call them midgets," Hermione scolded. "First years!" she called, walking along the table. "This way, please!" The first years slowly gathered around Hermione, looking nervous. One boy looked at Harry then quickly grabbed the arm of the boy next to him and whispered something in his ear. Both boys looked at Harry apprehensively, and Liza took this as her cue to lead Harry away.

"See you later," she said loudly to Ron and Hermione before grabbing Harry's arm and steering him away. All around them, people were pointing at Harry and whispering.

"This way," Harry muttered to Liza, and they took a couple of shortcuts to get away from the crowds.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Liza said when they were alone in a corridor.

"I shouldn't be surprised by them," Harry said in a hard voice. "I mean, the _Prophet_ has been calling me a nutter all summer, hasn't it?"

"If you want to put it bluntly, yes, it has," Liza said. After a few minutes of silence, she added, "I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that Fudge sent someone from his office to teach."

"How do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I mean, it's like what the Order was saying on the night you came to Grimmauld Place," Liza said quietly. "Fudge thinks that Dumbledore is trying to take his job. Fudge needs somebody on the inside to let him know what's happening at Hogwarts, and the professors here are too loyal to Dumbledore, that much is obvious."

"I don't understand why the Ministry thinks that I would lie about this," Harry said angrily. "Do they think I'm trying to help Dumbledore become Minister?"

"Maybe," Liza said. "I don't know, Harry. But what I _do_ know is that you need to keep your temper in check." Harry looked at her in bewilderment. "Oh, don't look at me that way," she scolded him. "The way you screamed at us that night at Snuffles's house? You've been losing your temper a lot lately, and that will only get you into more trouble if there's someone from the Ministry working here now. So promise me you'll try and keep your cool."

"I promise," Harry muttered, and Liza stepped in front of him to stop him. He had grown a bit over the summer; Harry and Liza had been roughly the same height for the past few years, but now he had a few inches on her.

"Look me in the eye and promise me that you'll try to control your temper," she said. Harry finally looked at her.

"I promise that I'll try," he said. Liza sighed.

"I suppose that will have to be good enough for now," she said. "C'mon, we're nearly to the common room. Do you know the password?" They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady who guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, and Harry looked at Liza blankly.

"No," he replied. "I forgot to ask about it before we left." The two looked at the Fat Lady.

"No password, no entrance," she insisted.

"Harry, Liza!" a voice said from behind them. "I know it!" Harry and Liza turned to see Neville hurrying towards them. "Guess what it is? I'm actually going to be able to remember it for once." He had his little plant in his hand, and he waved it in the air. "_Mimbulus mimbletonia_!"

"Correct," the Fat Lady said, and her portrait swung open to reveal the round entrance to the common room. Harry, Liza, and Neville all climbed through. The room wasn't very full, as Liza assumed most of their classmates had gone up to bed. Harry said goodnight to Liza and continued towards the boys' staircase, and Neville followed him. Liza looked around the common room, spotting Fred and George pinning something to the notice board. She went over to them.

"What's this, then?" she asked, looking at it.

"We're looking for some test subjects," Fred replied ominously. When Liza frowned at him, he chuckled. "We're going to pay a few people to test some of our sweets. There isn't anything dangerous about them, we just need to see if they work the way they're supposed to."

"Word of advice," Liza said, looking between the twins. "Don't let Hermione see any of this. Not only is she a stickler for the rules, but she will not hesitate to write to your parents." Fred and George exchanged uneasy glances.

"You don't think she'll read the notice board right away, do you?" George asked.

"Probably not," Liza admitted, "but still. Be careful."

"Will do, sister," Fred said. "I think it'll be okay. I'm going to head up to bed. George, you coming?"

"Right behind you," George said. "Goodnight, little E," he added, hugging Liza quickly. Fred hugged her as well, and the boys went up the stairs to their dormitory. Liza was just about to head up the girls' staircase when the portrait hole opened and Hermione and Ron led the first years inside.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor common room," Hermione said to the first years. "The boys' dormitories are through the door on the left and up the stairs, and the girls' dormitories are through the door on the right. Your belongings will already be in your rooms. Your dormitory will have a sign on it that says 'First Years'. I suggest you all head up to bed, the first day of school begins tomorrow." The first years dispersed, and Liza joined Hermione and Ron.

"Thank you for all your help, Ron," Hermione said sarcastically to Ron.

"I don't think that showing the first years to the dormitories is a two-person job," Ron replied. "When we were first years, Percy was the only one who showed us anywhere."

"You need to take this job more seriously," Hermione insisted. "Now, I think I'm going to go up to bed. Liza?"

"Lead the way," Liza said. "Goodnight, Ron." Ron said goodnight as well, and he left for the boys' dormitory.

Hermione and Liza climbed the girls' staircase all the way to the top, where their dormitory was. When they entered the room, they found Parvati and Lavender already getting ready for bed.

"So how was the first day of prefect duty?" Liza asked Hermione as they changed out of their uniforms.

"Oh, it's been fine," Hermione replied. "I just wish that Ron was a bit more enthusiastic."

"Good luck with that one," Liza chuckled. "He didn't want to be a prefect, he's said so himself multiple times. I wonder why they chose him? I mean, Ginny's right, they probably should have picked Dean."

"Maybe," Hermione agreed. They finished getting ready for bed and climbed into their four-poster beds.

"Oh, I missed this bed so much," Liza moaned happily. Boots hopped up onto the bed next to her, curling into a ball at her hip. Liza let out a yawn.

"Goodnight, Liza," Hermione chuckled.

"Goodnight Hermione," Liza replied. Then she snuggled into her bed and quickly fell asleep.

**~LJ:NK~**


	8. Chapter 8 A Rocky First Day

_**A/N: Wow, okay, this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. I hope you like it!**_

_**Edit: I had to reupload this chapter because I realized that I had put Hermione in Muggle Studies, which doesn't make sense since Hermione had dropped the class after her third year! Oops.**_

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

**Chapter 8 – A Rocky First Day**

The next morning, Liza and Hermione woke up and got dressed. Lavender and Parvati were also getting ready for the first day of school, whispering quietly to each other.

"So how were your summers?" Liza asked them, interested in what they were whispering about.

"Fine," Parvati was quick to answer. "Same old same old. How about you?"

"I'm sure they were hanging around with Harry, coming up with more stories to tell us about You-Know-Who," Lavender said bitterly. Hermione and Liza exchanged a surprised glance.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked.

"You heard me," Lavender sneered.

"Why would you say something like that?" Liza asked angrily.

"The _Prophet_ has been very clear that You-Know-Who has _not_ returned," Lavender stated matter-of-factly, "that Harry is a liar, and that Dumbledore is losing his touch." Liza opened her mouth to answer her, but Hermione beat her to it.

"Harry is _not_ a liar, and Dumbledore is _not_ losing his touch!" Hermione exclaimed. "You just keep your big fat mouth shut on things that you know nothing about!" With that, Hermione swept from the room, and Liza lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

"You know, I was just going to call you a stupid bitch, but I think it hits much harder coming from Hermione," she said, smirking. "Have a lovely day." Then she, too, left the room, finding Hermione waiting just outside.

"I can't believe her," Hermione seethed.

"I don't know why you're surprised," Liza said as they started down to the common room. "This was bound to happen. There are lots of people who take the _Prophet_ and the Ministry seriously." Hermione nodded, taking a few deep breaths.

"I shouldn't have said that to her, though," she said after a few moments. "I'm a prefect, I need to be better than that."

"Don't worry about it," Liza said soothingly. They had reached the common room, and there was no sign of Harry and Ron. "I don't know why Lavender thought that she would get away with saying something like that," she added. "I mean, I was just as surprised as her when you told her to shut up, but she knows that I would have never let her get away with saying something like that. I'm proud of you, 'Mione." Hermione smiled, her cheeks tinged pink.

Harry and Ron joined them a few minutes later, and Harry looked upset.

"What's the matter?" Liza asked immediately. "You look absolutely…"

"Oh for heaven's sake," Hermione interrupted exasperatedly. She was looking at the notice board, seeing Fred and George's sign for the first time. "They are the limit," she scowled, walking over to the board and taking the sign down. "We'll have to talk to them, Ron."

"Why?" Ron asked, bewildered. The four of them headed out of the common room.

"Because we're prefects!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's up to us to stop this kind of thing!" Ron didn't answer her.

"Anyway, what's up, Harry?" Liza asked, turning back to her brother. "You look really angry about something. Out with it." Harry didn't say anything.

"Seamus reckons Harry's lying about You-Know-Who," Ron finally said for him.

"Yes, Lavender thinks so too," Hermione said, frowning.

"Been having a nice little chat with her about whether or not I'm a lying, attention-seeking prat, have you?" Harry asked sharply.

"No," Hermione replied, "I told her to keep her big fat mouth shut about you, actually." Harry and Ron stared at her in amazement.

"I was surprised, as well," Liza said, amused at their expressions. "You should have seen the look on Lavender's face when she said it. Oh, and Harry?" She glared over at Harry. "It would be nice if you stopped jumping down our throats because, if you haven't noticed, we're on your side."

"Sorry," Harry mumbled after a pause.

"That's quite all right," Hermione said briskly, nodding. "Don't you remember what Dumbledore said at the end-of-term feast last year?" Harry and Ron both shook their heads, and Hermione continued, "About You-Know-Who. He said, '_His gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust_…'"

"How do you remember stuff like that?" Ron asked.

"I listen, Ron," Hermione replied. Liza laughed.

"So do I," Ron insisted, "but I still couldn't tell you exactly what…"

"The point," Hermione interrupted, "is that this sort of thing is exactly what Dumbledore was talking about. You-Know-Who's only been back two months, and we've started fighting among ourselves. And the Sorting Hat's warning was the same—stand together, be united…"

"And Harry said it last night," Ron said, "if that means we're supposed to get matey with the Slytherins, fat chance."

"And I told him, that's not what Dumbledore or the hat, or Nick for that matter, was saying," Liza cut in. "We don't have to be friends with the Slytherins, we just need to be willing to work together."

"I think it's a pity we're not trying for a bit of inter-House unity," Hermione added. They had reached the Entrance Hall, where they met a group of fourth-year Ravenclaws. The Ravenclaws nervously huddled closer together and hurried away from Harry and his friends.

"Yeah, we really ought to be trying to make friends with people like that," Harry said sarcastically.

"Harry, sooner or later people will realize you've been telling the truth," Liza said gently. The four Gryffindors entered the Great Hall and looked up at the staff table. Hagrid was still not there, and Professor Grubbly-Plank was sitting in his usual spot.

"Dumbledore didn't even mention how long that Grubbly-Plank woman's staying," Harry said as they sat at the Gryffindor table.

"Maybe…" Hermione trailed off, looking up at the staff table thoughtfully.

"What?" the other three asked.

"Well…maybe he didn't want to draw attention to Hagrid not being here," Hermione guessed, shrugging.

"What d'you mean, draw attention to it?" Ron chuckled. "How could we not notice?" Before any of the others could say anything, a tall seventh-year Gryffindor girl came marching up to them. It was Angelina Johnson, one of the Chasers on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Hi, Angelina," Harry greeted her.

"Hi," she said, "good summer?" Harry opened his mouth to answer, but she continued on, "Listen, I've been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."

"Nice one," Harry said, smiling.

"Yeah, well, we need a new Keeper now Oliver's left," she said. "Tryouts are on Friday at five o'clock and I want the whole team there, all right? Then we can see how the new person'll fit in."

"Okay," Harry agreed, and Angelina gave him a quick smile before leaving to rejoin her friends.

"I'd forgotten Wood had left," Hermione said. "I suppose that will make quite a difference to the team?"

"I s'pose," Harry said. "He was a good Keeper…"

"Still, it won't hurt to have some new blood, will it?" Ron asked. Then hundreds of owls flew into the Great Hall, bringing in the morning mail. An owl swooped down on Hermione, carrying a copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

"What are you still getting that for?" Harry asked, his voice annoyed. "I'm not bothering…load of rubbish." Hermione dropped a Knut in the pouch attached to the owl's leg, and the owl took off again.

"It's best to know what the enemy are saying," Hermione pointed out. Then she shook the paper out and began to read. There was silence as Hermione read and Harry, Ron, and Liza ate their breakfast.

"Nothing," Hermione finally stated, folding the newspaper back up. "Nothing about you or Dumbledore or anything." Professor McGonagall reached them then, handing out their course schedules.

"Look at today!" Ron complained as he looked over his schedule. "History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and doubled Defense Against the Dark Arts… Binns, Snape, Trelawney, and that Umbridge woman all in one day! I wish Fred and George'd hurry up and get those Skiving Snackboxes sorted…"

"Do mine ears deceive me?" Fred asked, arriving at the table with George. Fred plopped down onto the bench next to Harry, and George sat next to Liza. "Hogwarts prefects surely don't wish to skive off lessons?"

"Look what we've got today," Ron insisted, sliding his schedule across the table so his brother could see it. "That's the worst Monday I've ever seen."

"Fair point, little bro," Fred said. "You can have a bit of Nosebleed Nougat cheap if you like."

"Why's it cheap?" Liza asked, grinning slyly at the twins.

"Because you'll keep bleeding till you shrivel up, we haven't got an antidote yet," George replied, piling some breakfast onto his plate.

"Cheers," Ron muttered, "but I think I'll take the lessons." He took his schedule back and shoved it into his bag.

"And speaking of your Skiving Snackboxes," Hermione began, looking between the twins, "you can't advertise for testers on the Gryffindor notice board."

"I told you so," Liza said, smirking.

"Who says we can't advertise?" George asked after briefly sticking his tongue out at Liza.

"Says me," Hermione said. "And Ron."

"Leave me out of it," Ron said immediately. Hermione gave him an exasperated look, and Fred and George let out snickers.

"You'll be singing a different tune soon enough, Hermione," Fred said. "You're starting your fifth year, you'll be begging us for a Snackbox before long."

"Why would starting fifth year mean I want a Skiving Snackbox?" Hermione asked.

"Fifth year's O.W.L. year," George replied.

"So?" Hermione asked.

"So you've got your exams coming up, haven't you?" Fred said. "They'll be keeping your noses so hard to the grindstone they'll be rubbed raw." Harry and Liza exchanged disgusted looks.

"Half our year had minor breakdowns coming up to O.W.L.s," George reported. "Tears and tantrums…Patricia Simpson kept coming over faint…"

"Kenneth Towler came out in boils, d'you remember?" Fred asked.

"That's 'cause you put Bulbadox Powder in his pajamas," George reminded him.

"Oh yeah," Fred said, smiling. "I'd forgotten… Hard to keep track sometimes, isn't it?"

"Anyway, it's a nightmare of a year, the fifth," George said. "If you care about exam results anyway."

"Hermione will be fine," Liza said. "She's the top of our class. She'll get the top marks in all her exams." Hermione smiled, blushing.

"Well, Fred and I managed to keep our spirits up somehow," George said.

"Yeah…you got, what was it, three O.W.L.s each?" Ron asked.

"Yep," Fred replied cheerfully. "But we feel our futures lie outside the world of academic achievement."

"We seriously debated whether we were going to bother coming back for our seventh year," George added, "now that we've got…" He trailed off, looking at Harry, and then hurriedly continued, "…now that we've got our O.W.L.s. I mean, do we really need N.E.W.T.s? But we didn't think Mum could take us leaving school early, not on top of Percy turning out to be the world's biggest prat."

"We're not going to waste our last year here, though," Fred said. "We're going to use it to do a bit of market research, find out exactly what the average Hogwarts student requires from his joke shop, carefully evaluate the results of our research, and then produce the products to fit the demand."

"But where are you going to get the gold to start a joke shop?" Hermione asked. "You're going to need all the ingredients and materials—and premises, too, I suppose…" Suddenly there was a clatter, and Harry went diving under the table for something.

"Ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies, Hermione," Fred said. "C'mon, George, if we get there early we might be able to sell a few Extendable Ears before Herbology." He and his twin brother picked up a few slices of toast and left the table. Harry sat back up straight, and Liza looked at him questioningly. He held up his fork.

"What did that mean?" Hermione asked. "'Ask us no questions…' Does that mean they've already got some gold to start a joke shop?"

"You know, I've been wondering about that," Ron said. "They bought me a new set of dress robes this summer, and I couldn't understand where they got the Galleons…"

"D'you reckon it's true this year's going to be really tough?" Harry asked, changing the subject. "Because of the exams?"

"Oh yeah," Ron said. "Bound to be, isn't it? O.W.L.s are really important, affect the jobs you can apply for and everything. We get career advice too, later this year, Bill told me. So you can choose what N.E.W.T.s you want to do next year." The four fifth-years finished up their breakfast and stood up to leave for their first class.

"D'you know what you want to do after Hogwarts?" Harry asked as they exited the Great Hall.

"Not really," Ron replied. "Except…well…"

"What?" Harry asked as Ron looked a bit embarrassed.

"Well, it'd be cool to be an Auror," Ron said.

"Yeah, it would," Harry agreed.

"But they're, like, the elite," Ron added. "You've got to be really good. What about you, Liza?"

"I mean, I guess it'd be cool," Liza said. "I dunno, I kind of want to help improve relations with wizards and the Muggle world… How about you, Hermione?"

"I don't know," Hermione said. "I think I'd really like to do something worthwhile."

"An Auror's worthwhile!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yes, it is, but it's not the only worthwhile thing," Hermione said. "I mean, if I could take S.P.E.W. further…" Liza glanced at Harry and Ron, who were very purposefully looking away from one another.

The Gryffindors' first class of the day was History of Magic, which was known for being very boring. It was taught by Professor Binns, the only ghost professor in the school. Hermione was the only one who was able to pay attention for the entire class period. Liza tried her best to pay attention, as well, but it was very difficult. Harry and Ron, on the other hand, played hangman on a piece of parchment instead of taking notes.

"How would it be if I refused to lend you my notes this year?" Hermione asked the boys bitterly at the end of class.

"We'd fail our O.W.L.s," Ron replied promptly. "If you want that on your conscience, Hermione…"

"Well, you'd deserve it," Hermione said indignantly. "You don't even try to listen to him, do you?"

"We do try," Ron insisted. "We just haven't got your brains or your memory or your concentration—you're just cleverer than we are—is it nice to rub it in?"

"Oh, don't give me that rubbish," Hermione said.

"Look at it this way, though," Liza said. "It's not like either of you will be taking History of Magic after O.W.L.s, so does it really matter if you pass it?" Hermione gave Liza a reproachful look, but Ron smirked. They continued on, and after turning one corner, they came face to face with Cho Chang.

"Hello, Harry!" she said warmly to Harry.

"Hi," Harry said, looking flustered.

"You got that stuff off, then?" Cho asked.

"Yeah," Harry said. "So did you…er…have a good summer?" Liza had to stop herself from rolling her eyes; Cho had been dating Cedric Diggory at the end of the previous year.

"Oh, it was all right, you know…" Cho said vaguely.

"Is that a Tornados badge?" Ron asked abruptly, pointing at a badge pinned to Cho's robes. "You don't support them, do you?"

"Yeah, I do," Cho replied.

"Have you always supported them, or just since they started winning the league?" Ron questioned harshly.

"I've support them since I was six," Cho answered, looking away from Ron. "Anyway…see you, Harry." She continued on in the opposite direction, and Liza glared at Ron.

"You are such a toad, Ron!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Ron asked defensively. "I only asked her if…"

"Couldn't you tell she wanted to talk to Harry on her own?" Hermione demanded.

"So? She could've done, I wasn't stopping…" Ron said.

"What on earth were you attacking her about her Quidditch team for?" Liza asked.

"Attacking?" Ron repeated. "I wasn't attacking her, I was only…"

"Who _cares_ if she supports the Tornados?" Hermione said.

"Oh, come on," Ron scoffed, "half the people you see wearing those badges only bought them last season…"

"But what does it _matter_?" Hermione pressed.

"It means they're not real fans," Ron explained, "they're just jumping on the bandwagon…"

"That's the bell," Harry announced dully. Liza frowned as Ron and Hermione continued to bicker. Soon they came to the Potions room in the dungeons, and Liza was reunited with John.

"Hi," he said, grinning at her.

"Hello," she said heavily, glancing at Ron and Hermione who were now avoiding each other.

"What happened?" John asked.

"Well, we passed Cho Chang in the hall, and she clearly wanted to have a chat with Harry," Liza explained. "But then Ron noticed that she was wearing a Tornados badge, and he butted in and basically accused her of being a bandwagon fan and scared her off. He was arguing with Hermione all the way down here."

"Looks like some things haven't changed," John said. They waited for a few more minutes before Snape opened the door to the classroom and let them all in. Liza and John sat at their usual table.

"Settle down," Snape said as he shut the door. Silence fell over the dungeon as Snape moved to the front of the room.

"Before we begin today's lesson," he began in his quiet voice, "I think it's appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your O.W.L., or suffer my…displeasure." He paused looking around at some of the Gryffindor students.

"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," he continued. "I take only the very best into my N.E.W.T. Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying good-bye. But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell, so whether you are intending to attempt N.E.W.T. or not, I advice all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high-pass level I have come to expect from my O.W.L. students.

"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level," Snape continued. "The Draught of Living Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: If you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing. The ingredients and method are on the blackboard." Snape waved his wand at the board and words appeared on it. "You will find everything you need in the store cupboard." He waved his wand once more and the cupboard at the back of the room opened. "You have an hour and a half... Start."

It was a fairly difficult potion, and Liza was constantly looking at the instructions to make sure she was doing everything right. John seemed to be a little less troubled about his potion.

"A light silver vapor should now be rising from your potion," Snape called when there was ten minutes left of class. Liza frowned at the vapor rising from her potion.

"What's wrong?" John asked.

"Do you think these vapors look silver enough?" Liza asked. "I think they look a bit darker than yours do."

"Liza, you did a good job," John said, chuckling. His cauldron was definitely giving off silver vapors. Liza squinted her eyes at hers again.

"I don't know," she said. "I think they're more of a dark gray than a silver." John took her hand in his and squeezed lightly. Snape walked by their table, glancing into their cauldrons but not making any comments on their potions.

"There are no displays of affection allowed in my classroom," he sneered at them quietly, and John and Liza hastily dropped hands. Then he headed towards the back row, where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting.

"Potter, what is this supposed to be?" Snape asked, and Liza quickly turned around to see him standing over Harry's cauldron.

"The Draught of Peace," Harry replied.

"Tell me, Potter, can you read?" Snape asked. Liza heard Malfoy laugh aloud.

"Yes, I can," Harry replied hotly.

"Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter," Snape demanded.

"'Add powdered moonstone,'" Harry read, "'stir three times counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, then add two drops of syrup of hellebore.'"

"Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?" Snape asked. Harry mumbled something, and Snape added, "I beg your pardon?"

"No," Harry said. "I forgot the hellebore…"

"I know you did, Potter," Snape said, "which means that this mess is utterly worthless. _Evanesco_." He waved his wand, and Harry's potion disappeared.

"Those of you who _have_ managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name, and bring it up to my desk for testing," Snape instructed. "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday." Liza turned back to her cauldron and prepared her sample.

"That wasn't fair," she said in a low voice. "There were plenty of other potions in this room that looked as though people missed steps." John just shrugged, and the two of them joined the line to turn in their samples. The bell rang as they finished cleaning up, and Liza and John joined Hermione and Ron to go up to the Great Hall. Harry was nowhere to be found.

When they reached the Great Hall, John parted ways with them to join his Slytherin friends, and Liza, Hermione, and Ron went over to the Gryffindor table, where they found Harry already eating.

"That was really unfair," Hermione said as soon as the other three had sat down. "Your potion wasn't nearly as bad as Goyle's, when he put it in his flagon the whole thing shattered and set his robes on fire."

"Yeah, well, since when has Snape ever been fair to me?" Harry asked bitterly.

"I did think he might be a bit better this year," Hermione said. "I mean…you know…" She quickly glanced around for eaves-droppers before saying, "Now he's in the Order and everything."

"Poisonous toadstools don't change their spots," Ron said. "Anyway, I've always thought Dumbledore was cracked trusting Snape, where's the evidence he ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?"

"I think Dumbledore's probably got plenty of evidence, even if he doesn't share it with you, Ron," Hermione said, frowning at him.

"Oh, shut up, the pair of you," Harry said. Hermione and Ron looked at him speechlessly. "Can't you give it a rest?" he asked. "You're always having a go at each other, it's driving me mad." He stood up and left.

"I'm on it," Liza said, quickly standing up as well and hurrying after her brother.

"Harry!" she shouted after him as she climbed the marble staircase after him. He paused and looked over his shoulder at her. "What the hell was that?" she asked when she caught up to him. They continued to walk through the castle, heading upwards.

"I'm just sick of the pair of them arguing all the time," Harry muttered.

"Hermione and Ron argue all the time, and you've never had a problem with it before," Liza said. Harry shrugged. "Harry, you really need to learn to control your temper," Liza added.

"I can control my temper," Harry replied hotly. Liza raised her eyebrows.

"We get it, Harry," Liza said. "Ron, Hermione, and I are on your side. We know that being stuck at Privet Drive for half of the summer sucked. We know that people you called your friends now don't believe you about what happened last year. We know that Snape was being unfair to you in Potions class today."

"You're wrong," Harry said quietly. "I know you mean well, but none of you really knows what I've been going through, ever since I was a year old…"

"I lost my parents, too!" Liza said sharply. She carefully avoided looking at Harry, worried that she would spill her secret if she worked herself up too much.

"You still had a better upbringing than I did," Harry replied.

"Maybe I did, and as much as I love Dan and Sue, they aren't my real parents," Liza replied. "Just like you, I will never be able to see them again. And just like you, they're death was You-Know-Who's doing. So please don't act like I don't understand at least that part." There was silence for a moment.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled.

"Just please work on controlling your temper," Liza said. "We're on your side, we promise." They walked down a corridor in silence before Liza asked, "You're going to Divination, right?"

"Yeah," Harry answered.

"Well, I suppose I'll let you go on by yourself, then," Liza said. "I've got Arithmancy, and it's back down that hall." She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "I'll see you in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Okay," Harry agreed, and he set off on his own.

**~LJ:NK~**

Liza was somewhat regretting her decision to chase after Harry. She had barely eaten anything in the Great Hall and now her stomach was growling loudly. After waiting for about twenty minutes outside of the Arithmancy classroom, Hermione joined her, holding a napkin with a couple bread rolls in it.

"Here you are," she said, smiling. Liza gratefully took the rolls from Hermione and began eating them.

"Thank you so much, 'Mione," she said in between swallows.

"It's no problem," Hermione replied. "I know you didn't really get a chance to eat when you went after Harry. What did you say to him?"

"I mostly just reminded him to mind his temper, and that we are on his side," Liza answered, finishing the first roll and beginning the second one.

"Yes, I told Ron to tell Harry something similar," Hermione sighed.

"There's something different about him this year," Liza said, frowning. "He's never been this…_angry_ all the time." Before Hermione could say anything back, Professor Vector, the Arithmancy professor, had returned and opened the classroom door for them.

Liza and Hermione took seats at the front of the class. Liza always enjoyed this class, and Professor Vector was one of her favorite professors.

At the end of the class, Professor Vector set them their homework, and Hermione and Liza left for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"So how do you think this class will go?" Liza asked. "Defense Against the Dark Arts used to be one of my favorites; do you think this Umbridge woman is going to ruin it?"

"Maybe," Hermione said. "I don't really know what to expect."

"She probably won't last the year," Liza said grimly. "None of our professors for this class has lasted longer than a year." When they reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, they entered and sat down at a desk together.

When the whole class had entered and sat, Umbridge spoke up from her spot behind her desk.

"Well, good afternoon!" she announced. A few people replied, "Good afternoon," but most of the class remained quiet.

"Tut, tut," Umbridge said. "_That_ won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," the class chorused.

"There, now," Umbridge said, smiling. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please." The class did as they were told. Umbridge, meanwhile, tapped the blackboard with her wand and words appeared.

_Defense Against the Dark Arts  
>A Return to Basic Principles<em>

"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" Umbridge asked. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year. You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please." She tapped her wand on the board once more, and new words appeared.

_Course aims:  
>1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.<br>2. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.  
>3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.<em>

Liza copied down the course aims, frowning at them suspiciously.

"Has everybody got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?" Umbridge asked when everyone was finished copying. There were murmurs of confirmation throughout the class, and Umbridge said, "I think we'll try that again. When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," the class said together.

"Good," Umbridge said, beaming. "I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk." Liza turned to page five and glanced at the first chapter, which seemed very dull. She glanced over at Hermione, who hadn't touched her textbook, and was surprised to see that Hermione was sitting with her hand held in the air. Over the next few minutes, other people glanced up and noticed that she was not reading and was obviously trying to get Umbridge's attention.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" Umbridge finally asked.

"Not about the chapter, no," Hermione replied.

"Well, we're reading just now," Umbridge said, speaking as though she were talking to a small child. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims," Hermione said.

"And your name is…?" Umbridge asked.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione answered promptly.

"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," Umbridge said.

"Well, I don't," Hermione insisted. Liza felt her eyebrows raising in surprise and amusement. "There's nothing written up there about _using_ defensive spells."

"_Using_ defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge echoed with a chuckle. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to _use_ a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron asked bluntly.

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr…?" Umbridge said.

"Weasley," Ron replied, throwing his hand in the air. Umbridge looked back at Hermione, who had her hand raised again. Harry and Liza rose theirs as well.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Umbridge asked. "You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes," Hermione answered. "Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" Umbridge asked.

"No, but…"

"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is," Umbridge interrupted. "Wizards much older and cleverer than you," Liza snorted softly, "have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way…"

"What use is that?" Harry asked. "If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a…"

"_Hand_, My. Potter!" Umbridge said, cutting him off, and Harry put his hand up but Umbridge turned away from him. Others now put their hands up, as well.

"And your name is?" Umbridge asked Dean.

"Dean Thomas," he answered.

"Well, Mr. Thomas?" Umbridge prompted.

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it?" Dean asked. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free."

"I repeated, do you expect to be attacked during my classes?" Umbridge asked.

"No, but…"

"I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," Umbridge went on, talking over Dean, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed—not to mention extremely dangerous half-breeds."

"If you mean Professor Lupin, he was the best we ever had!" Liza snarled angrily. Umbridge turned to her with a sickly sweet smile.

"And you are…?" she asked.

"Liza Jones," Liza replied. "Professor Lupin was the best we had, it doesn't matter that he is a…"

"As I was saying," Umbridge interrupted, silencing Liza, "you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day…"

"No we haven't," Hermione piped up, "we just…"

"_Your hand is not up, Miss Granger_!" Umbridge said, and Hermione put her hand up.

"It is my understanding," Umbridge continued, ignoring her, "that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them _on_ you…"

"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" Dean pointed out. "Mind you, we still learned loads…"

"_Your hand is not up, Mr. Thomas_!" Umbridge said. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?" she asked, looking at Parvati, whose hand was now in the air.

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.?" Parvati asked. "Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the countercurses and things?"

"As long as you have studied the theory head enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions," Umbridge replied.

"Without every practicing them before?" Parvati asked. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"

"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough…" Umbridge said.

"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" Harry spoke up.

"This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world," Umbridge explained.

"But school is supposed to prepare us for the real world!" Liza insisted.

"_Your hand is not up, Miss Jones_," Umbridge said.

"We're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?" Harry asked.

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter," Umbridge said, shaking her head.

"Oh yeah?" Harry replied.

"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" Umbridge asked.

"Hmm, let's think…" Harry said mockingly, "maybe _Lord Voldemort_?" There were several flinches and gasps at the use of the name, and a lot of the students avoided looking in Harry's direction.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," Umbridge said. The rest of the class went silent, and she continued, "Now, let me make a few things quite plain." She stood up behind her desk and leaned forward.

"You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead," Umbridge began.

"He wasn't dead, but yeah, he's returned!" Harry interrupted.

"Mr.-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," Umbridge said in one breath. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. _This is a lie_."

"It is NOT a lie!" Harry shouted. "I saw him, I fought him!"

"Detention, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge exclaimed. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, _this is a lie_. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means comes and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continued your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners.'" Umbridge returned to her seat, but Harry stood up.

"Harry," Liza hissed at him, and Hermione tugged at the sleeve of his robes, but he ignored them.

"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked. The whole class turned their attention to him, for Harry had never talked about what happened the night Cedric died to anyone other than Hermione, Ron, and Liza.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," Umbridge replied.

"It was murder," Harry said. "Voldemort killed him, and you know it."

"Come here, Mr. Potter, dear," Umbridge said after a beat of silence. Harry marched up to the front of the room, where he stood for a few moments while Umbridge wrote something down. "Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," Umbridge finally said, handing Harry the bit of parchment she had written on.

Harry took the paper, turned on his heel, and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Return to your reading, please," Umbridge said to the rest of the class. The rest of the class was very tense, and when the bell finally rang, they were all very happy to be leaving the room. Hermione, Ron, and Liza let the rest of the class hurry ahead of them.

"I can't believe it," Hermione said in a low voice. "She's not going to let us use magic. Why? Why wouldn't she let us use magic?"

"Maybe she thinks Dumbledore's going to use the students as an army to overthrow the Ministry?" Ron guessed, smirking humorlessly.

"The Ministry has gone too far, there is no way they should expect us to do a practical exam when we've never practiced using the spells," Liza said.

"I wish Harry would work on holding his temper," Hermione added.

"That Umbridge woman deserved it," Ron said angrily.

"I know she does," Hermione said. "But she works for the Ministry, and she probably reports everything straight to Fudge. If Harry can't learn to control his anger, there are just going to be more stories about him in the _Prophet_ and it'll be even harder to convince people he's telling the truth."

"I wonder how fast the news of Harry's little outburst will spread," Liza said.

"How do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"I like most of our classmates, don't get me wrong," Liza explained, "but there is no way that they won't be spreading this story like fire at dinner tonight. This is juicy gossip."

"This has been a horrible Monday," Ron whined as they reached the Entrance Hall. "C'mon, I'm starving."

"You're always starving, Ron," Liza joked, smiling at her friend, and the three of them entered the Great Hall for dinner.

**~LJ:NK~**

_**A/N: I apologize for the lack of updates. I know that I turned out the third and fourth stories pretty quickly, but I've been having some writer's block with this one, which really bums me out because I was really looking forward to this one. Oh well.**_


	9. Chapter 9 Headaches

_**A/N: I know, I'm not doing very well about uploading very often, but I've been having a bit of writer's block about this story, so thank you to anyone who's willing to hang in there with me.**_

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.**_

**Chapter 9 – Headaches**

Liza had been correct in assuming that the news of Harry's outburst would spread the school like wildfire. As Hermione, Ron, and Liza walked down the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table, they could hear the whispers passing the story around.

A few minutes after they sat down, Harry joined them, taking a place beside Hermione. They began to eat in silence, listening to the murmurs around them. Harry sat very rigidly on the bench.

"He says he saw Cedric Diggory murdered…"

"He reckons he dueled with You-Know-Who…"

"Come off it…"

"Who does he think he's kidding?"

"Pur-_lease_…"

"What I don't get," Harry said when they were nearly done with dinner, dropping his knife and fork to the table, "is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them…"

"The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did," Hermione said. "Oh, let's get out of here." She also put her knife and fork down. Ron and Liza followed suit, although Ron looked disheartened. The four of them stood and left the Great Hall, they eyes of nearly the entire student body following them out.

"What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?" Harry asked as they climbed the marble staircase.

"Look, you don't understand what it was like after it happened," Hermione said.

"What do you mean?" Harry demanded.

"You arrived back in the middle of the lawn clutching Cedric's dead body…" Liza continued. "None of us saw what happened in the maze..."

"We just had Dumbledore's word for it that You-Know-Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought you," Hermione finished.

"Which is the truth!" Harry exclaimed.

"I know it is, Harry, so will you _please_ stop biting my head off?" Hermione sighed. "It's just that before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile!"

A few minutes later, they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and Hermione gave the password. They climbed into a fairly empty common room since most people were still at dinner. The four fifth-years took a seat in front of the fire. They sat in silence for a few moments.

"_How_ can Dumbledore have let this happen?" Hermione exclaimed, and Harry, Ron, and Liza jumped at her sudden anger. Hermione slammed her fists onto the arms of her chair and cried, "How can he let that terrible woman teach us? And in our O.W.L. year too!"

"Well, we've never had great Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, have we?" Harry asked.

"Lupin was pretty good," Liza argued.

"But you know what it's like, Hagrid told us," Harry continued, "nobody wants the job, they say it's jinxed."

"And she's trying to get people to spy for her," Ron said. "Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying You-Know-Who's back?"

"Of course she's here to spy on us all, that's obvious, why else would Fudge have wanted her to come?" Hermione said.

"Don't start arguing again," Liza said swiftly as Ron opened his mouth. She didn't want Harry to get angry again.

"Let's just do that homework, get it out of the way," Harry suggested, giving Liza a grateful glance. So they collected their homework and returned to their seats in front of the fire.

"Shall we do Snape's stuff first?" Ron suggested. He dipped his quill in his ink and began to write on a piece of parchment. "'_The properties…of moonstone…and its uses…in potion-making_…'" Then he looked at Hermione and asked, "So what are the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making?"

Hermione, however, was looking across the common room. Fred, George, and their friend Lee Jordan were sitting in a corner, surrounded by what seemed to be a group of first-years. The first-years were all chewing something.

"No, I'm sorry, they've gone too far," Hermione said, getting to her feet. "Come on, Ron."

"I—what?" Ron asked, looking horrified. "No—come on, Hermione—we can't tell them off for giving out sweets…"

"You know perfectly well that those are bits of Nosebleed Nougat," Hermione snapped, "or—or Puking Pastilles or…" Suddenly, each of the first-years slumped back into their chairs, as though they had fallen asleep.

"Fainting Fancies?" Liza said. There were other students who were watching the twins and Lee, and they were laughing. Fred and George, each holding a clipboard, were examining the first years closely. Hermione stomped over to them, and Ron stood up as though he was going to follow. He hesitated.

"She's got it under control," he muttered before dropping back into his seat.

"That's enough!" Hermione said as she neared the twins, who looked up at her. "I told you this morning, you can't test your rubbish on students!"

"We're paying them!" Fred said.

"I don't care, it could be dangerous!" Hermione said.

"Rubbish," Fred scoffed.

"Calm down, Hermione, they're fine," Lee cut in. He was sticking a purple-colored sweet into the mouths of the first-years.

"Yeah, look, they're coming round now," George said, nodding satisfactorily. The first-years were beginning to stir, many of them looking stunned about what had just happened.

"Feel all right?" George asked one of the girls.

"I-I think so," the girl replied.

"Excellent," Fred said, but Hermione swiftly grabbed the clipboard and the bag of sweets from his hands.

"It is NOT excellent!" she cried.

"'Course it is, they're alive, aren't they?" Fred insisted, sounding annoyed.

"You can't do this," Hermione said, "what if you made one of them really ill?"

"We're not going to make them ill, we've already tested them all on ourselves," Fred explained impatiently, "this is just to see if everyone reacts the same…"

"If you don't stop doing it, I'm going to…" Hermione started.

"Put us in detention?" Fred interrupted.

"Make us write lines?" George added mockingly. People who were watching began to laugh, but Hermione glared angrily at them, her hands on her hips.

"No," she said, "but I will write to your mother." Fred and George stopped laughing at once.

"You wouldn't," George said.

"Oh, yes, I would," Hermione replied. "I can't stop you eating the stupid things yourselves, but you're not giving them to first years." She glared at them for a moment longer before shoving the clipboard and bag of sweets back into Fred's hands. Turning on her heel, she marched back over to where Harry, Liza, and Ron were sitting.

"Thank you for your support, Ron," Hermione said testily.

"You handled it fine by yourself," Ron replied, not looking at her. Hermione looked at her homework for a minute.

"Oh, it's no good," she sighed, "I can't concentrate now. I'm going to bed." She opened her bag and pulled out what looked like two woolen hats, placing them on the table in front of the fire. Then she spread some balled-up bits of parchment and old quills around the hats.

"What in the name of Merlin are you going?" Ron asked.

"They're hats for house-elves," Hermione replied, putting her homework back into her bag. "I did them over the summer. I'm a really slow knitter without magic, but now I'm back at school should be able to make lots more."

"You're leaving out hats for the house-elves?" Ron repeated, as though he couldn't believe what Hermione was saying. "And you're covering them up with rubbish first?"

"Yes," Hermione said.

"That's not on," Ron said, shaking his head. "You're trying to trick them into picking up the hats. You're setting them free when they might not want to be free."

"Of course they want to be free!" Hermione exclaimed. "Don't you dare touch those hats, Ron!" Then she turned and left for the girls' staircase. Ron immediately leaned forward and brushed the trash away from the hats.

"They should at least see what they're picking up," he said.

"I don't think that Hermione can set the house-elves free," Liza said, frowning at the hats. "I mean, the house-elves won't go near the clothes, but I'm pretty sure only Dumbledore would be able to free the elves." Ron and Harry shrugged, and Ron looked at his Potions essay.

"There's no point trying to finish this now," he sighed, "I can't do it without Hermione, I haven't got a clue what you're supposed to do with moonstones, have you?" Harry shook his head.

"I'm going to bed too," he said, and stood up, gathering his things. He left for the boys' staircase, leaving Ron and Liza in the common room.

"So, do _you_ know anything about moonstones?" Ron asked. Liza flipped her Potions book open and turned to the chapter that discussed moonstones. Ron groaned and sat back in his chair.

"Well, if you don't want my help, you can go to bed, too," Liza said, glaring at him.

"No, I need to get this homework done," Ron muttered.

"Well, it's not due until Thursday, you don't _have_ to get it done tonight," Liza said.

"I need to get some of it done tonight," Ron said. "I have a…thing to do tomorrow."

"A thing?" Liza repeated, raising an eyebrow at him. "What thing?"

"It's not a big deal," Ron mumbled, blushing slightly.

"Come on, Ron, you can tell me," Liza said, nudging his shoulder.

"You know what, I think I will go up to bed," he said hurriedly. He put his books back into his bag and left for the boys' dormitory after a quick 'good night'.

Now that Liza was alone, she was able to concentrate on her Potions essay. It took a while to stretch her essay to twelve inches of parchment, but after an hour she had managed to finish it. When she was done, she sat back in her armchair, glancing around the common room. Everyone else was hanging out with their friends, laughing and smiling, but for some reason Liza felt disconnected from all of them. There were a lot of them who didn't believe Harry, and Liza couldn't wait for them to realize how wrong they were.

Quietly, she gathered her school things up, put them all in her bag, and left for the girls' staircase.

**~LJ:NK~**

The next morning, Liza and Hermione met Harry and Ron in the common room before heading downstairs for breakfast. It was a dreary day outside again, with rain clattering against the windows of the castle. When they reached the Great Hall, they saw that Hagrid had still not returned.

"But on the plus side, no Snape today," Ron pointed out as they sat at the Gryffindor table.

"Maybe not, but we have Care of Magical Creatures _and_ Herbology this afternoon," Liza said. "Hopefully the rain will let up before then." The four fifth-years began to fill their plates.

"What are you so happy about?" Ron asked suddenly, staring at Hermione.

"The hats have gone," Hermione replied. "Seems the house-elves do want freedom after all."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Ron replied. "They might not count as clothes. They didn't look anything like hats to me, more like wooly bladders."

"Ron!" Liza snapped.

"Well it's true!" Ron said, piling some more bacon on his plate.

The rest of their meal passed silently, with Hermione refusing to speak to Ron. When they were finished, they headed off for their first Charms class of the year. Liza walked with Hermione ahead of the boys.

"Are you okay, 'Mione?" Liza asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Hermione replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because Ron is being an ass," Liza answered, chuckling.

"I suppose so," Hermione said. "But he grew up in the Wizarding world, and he's had this prejudice against house-elves engrained in him since the day he was born. I can't expect him to realize it right away."

"Well, I guess you're right about that," Liza said, "but that doesn't mean he needs to go around criticizing your knit hats!"

"They definitely weren't the best hats I've ever knit, though," Hermione admitted. "But now that we're back at Hogwarts, I'll be able to use magic."

They reached their first class of the day, which was Charms. The Gryffindors all filed in and sat down. Tiny Professor Flitwick sat on his pile of books, beaming around at the class, and began the class with the importance of the O.W.L. exams.

"What you must remember," he said, "is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have no already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"

The rest of the lesson was spent on review the Summoning Charm, and Professor Flitwick let them go at the end of class with a large amount of homework. The fifth-years then proceeded to Transfiguration, complaining the whole time about their Charms homework.

Professor McGonagall also began her class with a lecture about the O.W.L.s

"You cannot pass an O.W.L. without serious application, practice, and study," she began. "I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an O.W.L. in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work." At the table next to Liza, Neville let out a soft noise of disbelief. "Yes, you too, Longbottom," Professor McGonagall added, glancing at him. "There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. So…today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until N.E.W.T. level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L."

They took a few notes on Vanishing Spells before they were each given a snail in which to practice on. Hermione was successful on her third attempt, and Professor McGonagall granted her a ten points to Gryffindor. By the end of class, Liza had managed to make her snail vanish as well, although she was not awarded any points. Professor McGonagall told the class to practice the spell before class the following day.

"Harry and I are going to head up to the library to work on some of this homework," Ron said to the girls after class. "Do you want to come with us?"

"No," Hermione said simply, slinging her bag over her shoulder and leaving the classroom.

"What's up with her?" Ron asked, staring after her. Liza rolled her eyes.

"We're going to go down to lunch," Liza said, also throwing her bag over her shoulder. "We'll see you in Care of Magical Creatures." She hurried from the room and caught up with Hermione. "Still punishing Ron, I see?" she teased.

"If he thinks he can be rude to me and then expect me to help him with his homework, he's got another thing coming," Hermione replied. Liza grinned.

"Good for you, Hermione," she said. "But, speaking of homework, do you want to work on Arithmancy during lunch? I would love to get all this homework done." Hermione agreed, and they spent their lunch hour finishing their Arithmancy homework.

"It feels much better to have that done," Liza said as they packed their bags at the end of lunch. They walked out of the Great Hall and into the Entrance Hall when a call stopped them.

"Liza!" John was rushing over to join them, grinning, accompanied by his friend Rhonda, a fellow fifth-year Slytherin.

"Hi," Liza said. "Hi, Rhonda."

"Afternoon," Rhonda said, smiling at Liza and Hermione. "Ready for a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson?"

"Proper?" Liza repeated, furrowing her brow.

"Yeah, well, you know," Rhonda said, shrugging, "Professor Grubbly-Plank is back. Now we're going to have a proper professor."

"You don't think Hagrid is a proper professor?" Liza asked, bristling slightly.

"Rhonda, I told you not to say something like that," John groaned, putting his arm around Liza's shoulders.

"There's nothing wrong with Hagrid," Rhonda said, waving John off. "I'm just saying, he's not exactly a professor."

"Okay, enough about Hagrid," Hermione cut in. "I'm just glad it's stopped raining." The four students left the castle and walked across the lawn towards Hagrid's hut. Professor Grubbly-Plank was standing a few few away from Hagrid's cabin. She stood next to a long table covered in what looked like twigs.

Liza, Hermione, John, and Rhonda were the first to arrive, followed closely by the rest of the Gryffindor fifth-years. A moment later, and the Slytherins had arrived as well, being led by Malfoy. They were all giggling and looking pointedly at Harry, who was doing his best to ignore them.

"Everyone here?" Professor Grubbly-Plank asked, calling the class to order. "Let's crack on then—who can tell me what these things are called?" Hermione immediately rose her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, Liza saw Malfoy jumping up and down, mocking Hermione's eagerness. Liza had to take hold of John's hand to keep herself from reaching for her wand. Pansy Parkinson laughed loudly, but her laugh quickly turned into a scream of surprise as the twigs jumped up, revealing themselves to be alive.

"Oooooh!" Lavender and Parvati exclaimed.

"Kindly keep your voices down, girls!" Professor Grubbly-Plank said, throwing down something which looked like brown rice in front of the twig-creatures to eat. "So—anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?"

"Bowtruckles," Hermione replied. "They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."

"Five points for Gryffindor," Professor Grubbly-Plank said, and Liza quickly squeezed Hermione's elbow. "Yes, these are bowtruckles and, as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Wood lice," Hermione answered. "But fairy eggs if they can get them."

"Good girl, take another five points," Professor Grubbly-Plank said. "So whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of wood lice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will gouge out human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs."

"No kidding," Liza breathed, and John gently squeezed her hand.

"So if you'd like to gather closer," Professor Grubbly-Plank continued, "take a few wood lice and a bowtruckle—I have enough here for one between three—you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body parts labeled by the end of the lesson." Hermione, although still upset with Ron, agreed to partner up with him and Harry, while Liza went with John and Rhonda. They took one of the bowtruckles and a handful of wood lice then found a spot near Hermione and Ron to do their work.

Drawing the bowtruckle turned out to be a bit more difficult than they'd expect. The bowtruckle didn't seem to want to stay still for more than a few seconds. Rhonda was the first one finished, and she laid back in the grass as John and Liza struggled to draw the bowtruckle. Liza glanced over to her other friends and saw them huddled close together, whispering to each other. Then Malfoy spoke up loudly from nearby.

"Yes, Father was talking to the Minister just a couple of days ago, you know," he said, "and it sounds as though the Ministry's really determined to crack down on substandard teaching in this place. So even if that over-grown moron _does_ show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straight away."

"OUCH!" Harry gasped, and Liza looked over to see him holding his hand up, which was dripping blood.

"You all right?" Liza called over to him.

"Yeah," Harry replied, looking slightly embarrassed. Hermione handed him a handkerchief from her bag, and he wrapped up his hand.

When the bell rang, Liza said goodbye to John and Rhonda and joined Hermione, Harry, and Ron.

"What the hell was all that?" she asked immediately. Harry quickly relayed what Malfoy had said to him about Hagrid.

"If he called Hagrid a moron one more time…" Harry growled, glaring after the group of Slytherins heading back up to the castle.

"Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy," Hermione warned, "don't forget, he's a prefect now, he could make life difficult for you…"

"Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?" Harry quipped, causing Ron to laugh and Liza to snort. Hermione frowned and said nothing. They slowly followed their Gryffindor classmates to their last class of the day, which was Herbology in the greenhouses.

"I just wish Hagrid would hurry up and get back, that's all," Harry said after a few minutes of silence. They had reached the greenhouses. "And _don't_ say that Grubbly-Plank woman's a better teacher!" he added, looking at Hermione.

"I wasn't going to," Hermione said evenly.

"Because she'll never be as good as Hagrid," Harry finished. They passed one of the greenhouses just as the door opened, and a group of fourth-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws came out.

"Hi!" Ginny said as she walked passed with some of her friends.

"Hi, Ginny," Liza and Hermione said at the same time. The rest of that class filed out, followed slowly by Luna Lovegood. She looked up, saw Harry, and changed direction mid-step to walk over.

"I believe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name is back, and I believe you fought him and escaped from him," Luna said immediately.

"Er—right," Harry replied, looking startled. Liza glared over at Lavender and Parvati, who were pointing at Luna's radish earrings and giggling.

"You can laugh!" Luna said, thinking that they were laughing at her statement rather than her wardrobe. "But people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"

"Well, they were right, weren't they?" Hermione spoke up. "There _weren't_ any such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack." Luna ignored her, turned on her heel, and strutted away. Most of the other Gryffindors were laughing by now at the girl's peculiar behavior.

"D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?" Harry asked as they entered into the greenhouse they would be working in that day.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than _her_," Hermione replied scathingly, and Liza looked at her in surprise. "Ginny's told me all about her, apparently she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs _The Quibbler_."

"Come on, Hermione, that's not fair," Liza said. "Just because she's a bit eccentric…" They were interrupted by the arrival of Ernie Macmillan, a fifth-year Hufflepuff.

"I want you to know, Potter," he began loudly, "that it's not only weirdos who support you. I personally believe you one hundred percent. My family have always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I."

"Er—thanks very much, Ernie," Harry replied, looking a bit happier than he had since being back at Hogwarts.

"Lay off the 'weirdos' part next time, though, eh Ernie?" Liza asked, frowning at his choice of words.

Professor Sprout entered a few minutes later, calling for their attention. She also began her class with a speech about the O.W.L. exams, which the fifth-years were getting quite tired of hearing about. At the end of another difficult lesson, Professor Sprout gave them an essay for homework, and they all left the greenhouses feeling exhausted.

"I have my first detention tonight," Harry moaned as they made their way up the lawn. "I need to get something to eat; mind going straight to the Great Hall so I can have some food?" Hermione, Liza, and Ron agreed. They made it inside the Great Hall when a yell from behind them made them stop.

"Oy, Potter!" Turning, they saw Angelina Johnson stomping over to Harry, looking very upset.

"What now?" Harry asked.

"I'll tell you what now," she said, poking him in the chest as she stopped in front of him. "How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?"

"What?" Harry asked. "Why…" His eyes widened and he said, "Oh yeah, Keeper tryouts!"

"_Now_ he remembers!" Angelina cried, throwing her hands up in the air. "Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the _whole team_, and find someone who _fitted in with everyone_? Didn't I tell you I'd booked the Quidditch pitch specifically? And now you've decided you're not going to be there!"

"I didn't decide not to be there!" Harry insisted. "I got detention from that Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth about You-Know-Who…"

"Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off on Friday," Angelina said, "and I don't care how you do it, tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like, just _make sure you're there_!" She turned and left.

"You know what?" Harry said as they walked down to the Gryffindor table. "I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because she seems to be channeling his spirit."

"What d'you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?" Ron asked as they sat down.

"Less than zero," Harry replied, piling some food onto his plate. "Better try, though, hadn't I? I'll offer to do two more detentions or something, I dunno… I hope she doesn't keep me too long this evening. You realize we've got to write three essays, practice Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, work out a countercharm for Flitwick, finish the bowtruckle drawing, and start that stupid dream diary for Trelawney?" Ron was looking at the ceiling.

"_And_ it looks like it's going to rain," he complained.

"What's that got to do with our homework?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing," Ron replied.

After dinner, they all went back up to the common room. Harry went to wash up and then said goodbye to his friends before leaving for his detention. Ron quickly excused himself as well, muttering about having something else to do, leaving Hermione and Liza to do their homework together.

Liza and Hermione spent the rest of the evening in the common room, finishing their homework together. Ron eventually rejoined them, looking tired and wet.

"Where have you been?" Liza asked. "Why are you soaking wet?"

"It was raining," Ron replied vaguely.

"Why were you outside?" Hermione asked, but Ron shook his head, refusing to answer them. He disappeared up the boys' staircase and didn't come back down.

It was nearly midnight when Hermione and Liza decided to go up to bed, even though Harry still hadn't returned from his detention.

"I hope that horrible woman doesn't keep him too late," Liza said as she and Hermione climbed into their beds. "He's not going to have any time to finish his homework at this rate." Then the girls bid each other goodnight and went to sleep.

**~LJ:NK~**

The next morning, Hermione and Liza went down to the common room and found Harry and Ron sitting at a table together, trying to come up with ideas for their dream diary for Divination. The girls ended up going down to breakfast without the boys.

In the Great Hall, John joined Liza and Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"Good morning," he said, pressing a kiss against the side of Liza's head as he sat down. "Where are Ron and Harry?"

"Well, Harry had detention last night with that Umbridge woman," Liza replied, "and Ron was off doing who knows what, so they're upstairs in the common room trying to finish their Divination homework."

"I see," John said. "The homework load has been quite heavy this year."

"It's not too bad if you can manage your time properly," Hermione said.

"Or, in Harry's case, if you can learn to control your temper," Liza said. John looked at her questioningly and she continued, "Don't tell me you didn't hear about his outburst in Umbridge's class?"

"No, I heard about it," John replied. "I didn't realize that it was a regular thing."

"It has been this year," Liza said, frowning.

"It must be really hard to have the majority of the Wizarding world not believe him and call him a nutter," John said. He stabbed at his egg with extra force. "I wish I could help," he added quietly.

"You believe us," Liza said, putting her hand on his arm. "That's more than enough help right now."

"Of course I believe you," John said. "But I have proof other than Harry's testimony. Except if I were to talk about it, I could put my family in serious danger."

"It's okay," Liza said soothingly. She knew that John had been struggling since You-Know-Who had returned.

"We should probably get going to class," Hermione said, checking her watch. The three of them finished up their breakfast.

"I'll catch up with you in a minute," Liza said to Hermione as they stood up. Hermione nodded and walked towards the Entrance Hall. Liza turned to John, who gave her a small smile.

"Don't worry about me," John said before Liza could say anything. "I just need to keep my head low about all this."

"That's kind of hard to do when you're friends with us," Liza said. "But I understand. You need to stay safe." John tucked some of Liza's hair back behind her ear.

"We should get going to class," he said. "I'll see you later, okay?" Liza nodded, and John briefly kissed her. There were some hoots and whistles from people around them, and Liza rolled her eyes. She and John parted ways in the Entrance Hall, and Liza hurried to catch up with Hermione.

"Is everything all right?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Liza replied. "He's just been under a bit of stress since You-Know-Who returned. But he'll be fine." Hermione nodded, and the girls separated as Hermione went off to Ancient Runes and Liza went to Muggle Studies.

After another long and stressful day, along with another large load of homework, Liza, Hermione, Harry, and Ron went down to the Great Hall for dinner. Angelina cornered Harry once more, and she was very unhappy to hear that Harry wouldn't be able to get out of detention on Friday.

"I'm not impressed with your attitude, Potter," Angelina glowered. "I expect that players who wish to remain on the team put their training before any other commitments." Then she tramped away.

"I'm in detention!" Harry exclaimed loudly at her back. "D'you think I'd rather be stuck in a room with that old toad or playing Quidditch?"

"At least it's only lines," Hermione said as Harry sat back down at the Gryffindor table. "It's not as if it's a dreadful punishment, really…" Harry looked as though he was going to say something, but he decided against it and nodded.

"I can't believe how much homework we've got," Ron whined.

"Well, why didn't you do any last night?" Hermione asked.

"Where were you anyway?" Liza added.

"I was…I fancied a walk," Ron replied, not looking at either girl.

**~LJ:NK~**

The next few days passed in a very similar manner. While Liza and Hermione were keeping up with their homework, Harry still had detentions to do and Ron was never in the common room in the evenings.

Friday evening finally arrived, and the Gryffindor common room was buzzing about the Quidditch tryouts. Hermione and Liza were tucked away in a corner, doing some homework, when the portrait hole opened and the Quidditch team flooded in with cases of butterbeer.

"C'mon, everyone, we're celebrating!" Fred announced, holding up the butterbeer. "My little brother Ron has just been made Keeper!" Liza and Hermione exchanged a surprised glance before jumping up and hurrying over to their friend.

"You tried out for Keeper?" Hermione asked. "Is that why you haven't been in the common room all week?"

"Yeah," Ron replied, blushing slightly.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were planning on trying out?" Liza asked, happy for her friend but a little irritated that he felt the need to keep it a secret.

"I didn't want you to make fun of me," Ron insisted. Fred passed the three of them bottles of butterbeer, and the three of them touched bottles before taking a swig.

The party, though low-key, went on into the night. Liza sat with Hermione for a while until Hermione fell asleep in the chair. Fred and George took the opportunity to test some more of their Skiving Snackboxes on willing first years.

The portrait hole opened again, and Liza saw Harry step into the common room, looking a bit pale. Before she could go over to him, Ron had lurched across the room.

"Harry, I did it, I'm in, I'm Keeper!" he said.

"What? Oh—brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, trying to look excited. Liza looked suspiciously at him, glancing at his hand, which looked like it was bleeding.

"Have a butterbeer," Ron said, handing him a bottle. "I can't believe it—where's Hermione gone?"

"She's there," Fred said, pointing over to the chair Hermione was slumped in.

"Well, she said she was pleased when I told her," Ron said. Liza joined them.

"Of course she's pleased," she said.

"Let her sleep," George said.

"Come here, Ron, and see if Oliver's old robes fit you," Katie Bell, one of the Gryffindor Chasers, called from the other side of the room. "We can take off his name and put yours on instead…" Ron walked over to them, but before Liza could ask Harry about his hand, Angelina came up to him.

"Sorry I was a bit short with you earlier, Potter," she said. "It's stressful, this managing lark, you know, I'm starting to think I was a bit hard on Wood sometimes." She paused and then continued, "Look, I know he's your best mate, but he's not fabulous. I think with a bit of training he'll be all right, though. He comes from a family of good Quidditch players. I'm banking on him turning out to have a bit more talent than he showed today, to be honest. Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey Hooper both flew better this evening, but Hooper's a real whiner, he's always moaning about something or other, and Vicky's involved in all sorts of societies, she admitted herself that if training clashed with her Charm Club she'd put Charms first. Anyway, we're having a practice session at two o'clock tomorrow, so just make sure you're there this time. And do me a favor and help Ron as much as you can, okay?" Harry nodded.

"Harry, is something wrong with your hand?" Liza asked finally, pointing at his hand.

"Come over here," Harry replied, gesturing at her to follow him. He went over to where Hermione was sitting. Hermione woke up when Harry put his bag onto the table.

"Oh, Harry, it's you…" she said. "Good about Ron, isn't it? I'm just so—so—so tired. I was up until one o'clock making more hats. They're disappearing like mad!"

"Great," Harry said. "Listen, Hermione, Liza, I was just up in Umbridge's office and she touched my arm…" He proceeded to explain how he had felt a pain in his scar when she had touched him.

"You're worried that You-Know-Who's controlling her like he controlled Quirrell?" Liza asked when he'd finished.

"Well, it's a possibility, isn't it?" Harry replied in a low voice.

"I suppose so," Hermione said. "But I don't think he can be _possessing_ her the way he possessed Quirrell, I mean, he's properly alive again, now, isn't he, he's got his own body, he wouldn't need to share someone else's. He could have her under the Imperius Curse, I suppose…" There was a moment of silence before Hermione added, "But last year your scar hurt when nobody was touching you, and didn't Dumbledore say it had to do with what You-Know-Who was feeling at the time? I mean, maybe this hasn't got anything to do with Umbridge at all, maybe it's just a coincidence it happened while you were with her?"

"She's evil," Harry said. "Twisted."

"She's horrible, yes," Liza agreed.

"But…Harry, I think you ought to tell Dumbledore your scar hurt," Hermione said.

"I'm not bothering him with this," Harry said firmly. "Like you just said, it's not a big deal. It's been hurting on and off all summer—it was just a bit worse tonight, that's all…"

"Harry, I'm sure Dumbledore would _want_ to be bothered by this," Liza said.

"Yeah, that's the only bit of me Dumbledore cares about, isn't it, my scar?" Harry asked bitterly.

"Don't say that, it's not true!" Hermione gasped.

"I think I'll write Sirius about it, see what he thinks…" Harry suggested.

"Harry, you can't put something like that in a letter!" Hermione exclaimed. "Don't you remember, Moody told us to be careful what we put in writing! We just can't guarantee owls aren't being intercepted anymore!"

"All right, all right, I won't tell him, then!" Harry huffed. He stood up. "I'm going to bed. Tell Ron for me, will you?"

"Oh no," Hermione said, "if you're going that means I can go without being rude too, I'm absolutely exhausted and I want to make some more hats tomorrow. Listen, you can help me if you like, it's quite fun, I'm getting better, I can do patterns and bobbles and all sorts of things now."

"Er…no, I don't think I will, thanks," Harry replied awkwardly. "Er—not tomorrow. I've got loads of homework to do… Liza, will you tell Ron?"

"Yeah, I can," Liza replied. "But—what's wrong with your hand?" Harry didn't answer her; he picked up his bag and left for the boys' staircase, leaving Hermione and Liza to stare after him.

**~LJ:NK~**


End file.
